Wiener Maiblumen

String orchestra Ciconia Consort conducted by Dick van Gasteren brings a concert programme full of Viennese romanticism with Wiener Maiblumen. Wiener Maiblumen features a fantastic leading role for soprano Lenneke Ruiten, who was awarded the prestigious Elly Ameling Ring in 2023. Enjoying a slice of Sachertorte, in Viennese Konditorei atmospheres, you will experience how Ciconia Consort puts the Viennese literary climate of the fin de siècle at the centre of the concert with brilliant songs and instrumental poems.

Anyone who thinks of Vienna thinks of Mozart and Johann Strauss or Schubert, Mahler and Schönberg. In the shadow of these greats are often literary artists like Goethe, Storm and Dehmel. The inspiring poetry of these artists led composers to create musical masterpieces.

Richard Dehmel's poem Verklärte Nacht was rendered inimitably beautiful in late-Romantic style by Schönberg. Less well known is his poem Maiblumen in a setting by Zemlinsky. So is Schoenberg's Waltzes for string orchestra, an early work in Johann Strauss-like style. Schubert's string quartet Der Tod und das Mädchen, set to Matthias Claudius' poem of the same name, was beautifully arranged for string orchestra by Gustav Mahler. And, Vienna is obviously not Vienna without the light-hearted operetta vergreens Wien, Wien nur du allein and the Vilja song.

Photo: Jan Hordijk