{"id":10170,"date":"2026-01-28T14:31:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T13:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/?p=10170"},"modified":"2026-01-28T14:35:39","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T13:35:39","slug":"city-of-london-sinfonia-kenneth-woods-humanity-and-nature-mahler-song-of-the-earth-zhenyan-li","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/2026\/01\/28\/city-of-london-sinfonia-kenneth-woods-humanity-and-nature-mahler-song-of-the-earth-zhenyan-li\/","title":{"rendered":"City of London Sinfonia, Kenneth Woods: Humanity and Nature \u2013 Mahler Song of the Earth; Zhenyan Li"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Re-blogged from Critics Circl<\/a><\/p>\n

by\u00a0Guy Rickards<\/a><\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0Nov 28, 2024<\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0Music<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a00 comments<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

(photo (c) Suzi Corker<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Joanne\u00a0<\/strong>Chiang, Owen Gunnell<\/strong>, percussion\u00a0(Zhenyan Li)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yvonne Howard, Satriya Krisna, City of London Sinfonia \/ Kenneth Woods (Mahler)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sinfonia Smith\u2019s Square, London, November 12th<\/sup>, 2024<\/em><\/p>\n

The City of London Sinfonia\u2019s three-part\u00a0Patterns of Nature<\/em>\u00a0series reached its conclusion at the rebranded Sinfonia Smith Square (formerly St John\u2019s Smith Square) on 12th<\/sup>\u00a0November with a programme centred on Iain Farrington\u2019s chamber-orchestral arrangement of\u00a0Das Lied von der Erde<\/em>. Previous instalments in the series had featured Bartok\u2019s\u00a0Divertimento\u00a0<\/em>and John Adams\u2019\u00a0Shaker Loops\u00a0<\/em>(\u2018Shimmering Interference\u2019, September 17th<\/sup>), and a highly diverse programme including pieces by Caroline Shaw, Anna Thorvaldsdottir and Webern amongst others (\u2018Music from Pole to Pole\u2019, October 15th<\/sup>). The theme of the final concert was \u201cHumanity and Nature\u201d, as elaborated by Dr Helen Anahita Wilson in a brief talk between the two items on the programme, both of which had Chinese connections, whether the composer (Zhenyan Li) or the texts set by Mahler from the hugely influential collection\u00a0The Chinese Flute<\/em>.<\/p>\n

As originally programmed, the concert should have opened with the\u00a0Duet for oboe and tam-tam<\/em>\u00a0from Du Yun\u2019s controversial 2011 opera\u00a0Angel\u2019s Bone<\/em>\u00a0(for which she was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2017). No explanation was given on the night for the substitution of Zhenyan Li\u2019s\u00a0Conflict\u00a0<\/em>for 2 percussionists (2021)\u2014as Joanne Chiang was scheduled to perform in Du Yun\u2019s piece, one presumes some indisposition on the part of the oboist Daniel Bates. It is a shame that Yun\u2019s\u00a0Duet<\/em>, a tour de force of sonorities for both instruments, had to be dropped, but Li\u2019s\u00a0Conflict<\/em>\u2014vigorously played by Chiang and Owen Gunnell\u2014more than made up for that, a strongly imagined and realised drama in its own right (inspired by elements of Chinese opera), pitting pitched and unpitched instruments from either side of the stage.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0\"\"\u00a0 (photos (c) Suzi Corker<\/em>)<\/p>\n

The main event,\u00a0Das Lied von der Erde<\/em>, itself nearly did not take place due to conductor Kenneth Woods suffering a heart attack a little over a week beforehand. His presence on the podium directing a very fine performance of Mahler\u2019s enormous song-cycle-cum-symphony was an extraordinary feat in the circumstances, and testimony to prompt, excellent treatment from the NHS. Woods is one of the pre-eminent Mahler conductors on the planet, as anyone who has heard (or seen via YouTube) his revelatory performance from the annual MahlerFest in Boulder, Colorado, can testify, so his shaping of Mahler\u2019s six songs (the last of which is almost a symphony in itself) was immaculate. The sixteen performers of the City of London Sinfonia\u2014including arranger Iain Farrington himself on the celesta\u2014provided sensitive and well-nigh perfect accompaniments for the two opera soloists, rising star tenor Satriya Krisna and mezzo-soprano Yvonne Howard, familiar to London audiences for her roles at ENO an the Royal Opera.\u00a0Das Lied von der Erde\u00a0<\/em>is a cycle about balance, first and foremost: the balance between life and death (the composer\u2019s eldest daughter died shortly before he started work on the cycle), between man and the natural world, and even seasonally between Autumn and Spring. As Dr Wilson noted, drinking is a sub-plot throughout the work, particularly in the tenor\u2019s first and third songs,\u00a0The Drinking Song of the Earth\u2019s Sorrow<\/em>\u00a0(where wine becomes both a solace and dependency for life\u2019s tragedies) and\u00a0The Drunken Man in Spring<\/em>, the cycle\u2019s ebullient scherzo celebrating the joys of the grape. Krisna relished both aspects in his finely nuanced renditions, singing strongly\u2014as he needed to in the thicker textures of the opening movement. Yvonne Howard provided the greater lyricism as one would expect, coming into her own in the extended final\u00a0The Farewell<\/em>, magisterially interpreted by the entire ensemble.<\/p>\n

The acoustic of Sinfonia Smith Square fitted Farrington\u2019s arrangement like a glove, filling the hall without overwhelming soloists or audience alike. A memorable concert for so many reasons.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n