Staatskapelle Berlin

Kaija Saariaho was able to complete her Opus ultimum before she died of the consequences of an incurable brain tumour in June 2023 at the age of 70: a trumpet concerto with the eloquent title “Hush” – existential music, composed in the certain knowledge of her own death, in which sensual and iridescent sounds meet gaping abysses. Susanna Mälkki, who conducted the concerto’s premiere in Helsinki, now presents the German premiere of “Hush” from the platform of the Staatskapelle Berlin. The soloist is the Finnish trumpeter Verneri Pohjola, who devised new, experimental playing techniques together with the composer. With Mahler’s “Das Lied von der Erde” the programme contains another work that revolves around the mortality of human existence – written during a time when Mahler’s life had been turned upside down. Even before his resignation as Director of the Vienna Hofoper came into effect, his elder daughter Maria Anna died of diphtheria and he himself was diagnosed with a severe heart defect. Mahler had “lost all clarity and calm at a stroke,” and was left, in his own words: “vis-à-vis de rien.” After sounds of complete abandonment and a “frenzy of self-destruction” (Adorno), this work bidding the world farewell seems to end echoing in the infinite expanses of the universe – with gently wavering sounds accompanying the last word of song – “ewig” (forever) – as it is repeated numerous times and the music gradually seems to vanish into nothingness.