Last July I had the pleasure of hearing French mezzo-soprano Marianne Crebassa sing Gustav Mahler’s ‘Kindertotenlieder’ at the Radio France Festival in Montpellier. So, when I heard that she was to repeat the performance in Toulouse I couldn’t wait to experience it again, especially as this concert paired the lieder with one of the most enjoyable symphonies to hear live, Sibelius no. 5.

Orchestre National Capitole Toulouse, under Spanish conductor Roberto Forés Veses, began the evening with the French premiere of Finnish composer Outi Tarkiainen’s ‘Mosaïcs’. Tarkiainen was born in Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland in 1985 and studied composition at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. ‘Mosaics’ was composed as part of a major art project, ‘Nordic, a Fragile Hope’, which brought together music, photography, and video dealing with the problems of climate change. The composition was based on music from Tarkiainen’s opera, ‘A Room of One’s Own’, which dramatized Virginia Woolf’s 1928 essay of the same name. The work has a haunting theme, reflecting its subject matter, and was beautifully played. The composer, who was present, received resounding applause.

Outi Tarkiainen

Gustav Mahler composed ‘Kindertotenlieder’ (‘Songs on the Death of Children’) between 1901 and 1904, setting poems by Friedrich Rückert which were written after the death of two of his children. In a tragic irony, the composer would later experience the same loss. It was another sublime interpretation by Marianne Crebassa, whose voice is perfectly suited to the melancholy sadness of the songs.

Roberto Forés Veses

Sibelius’ ‘Symphony no. 5’, was begun in 1914 and completed in 1919 after several revisions. It was composed during the turmoil of World War I and Finland’s fight for independence and captures the country’s sense of national pride and resistance.

It was well played by the Toulouse orchestra, technically exact, but was not as rousing as some performances I have seen; in fact, it didn’t really soar until towards the end of the ‘swan theme’ in the third movement. However, the brass and woodwind sections were particularly impressive, and a special mention goes to the lone percussionist who coped with four timpani throughout the performance.

Outi Tarkiainen: ‘Mosaïcs’; Gustav Mahler: ‘Kindertotenlieder’; Jean Sibelius: Symphony no. 5 in E♭ major, Op. 82.