New take on Mahler: Song collection shows tender side of symphonic giant

The song had ended, but tenor Ian Bostridge remained motionless for some time.

The conductor, Yun Han-kyul, who had led the performance, the musicians of Sejong Soloists and even the audience seemed reluctant to break the silence with applause.

Only after a long pause did Bostridge slowly begin to move.

It was as if the soldier boy in the song, who had bid farewell to his fellow soldiers and the world on his way to the gallows, had never returned.

The moment came during “Mahler with Sejong Soloists and Ian Bostridge,” held Wednesday at the Seoul Arts Center’s Concert Hall.

The performance was marked by an intense sense of immersion shared by both performers and audience members.

Bostridge performed Gustav Mahler’s song collection “Des Knaben Wunderhorn” (“The Youth’s Magic Horn”) and his song cycle “Songs of a Wayfarer.” Before the vocal works, Sejong Soloists performed Mahler’s arrangement of Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op. 95, “Serioso,” in the first half, followed by Schumann’s String Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 41, No. 1, in the sec