Name: Simon Rattle conducts Schumann’s “Paradise and the Peri”
Start: 2009-02-08T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2009-02-08T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Berliner Philharmonie

Organization

Conductor

Simon Rattle

Soprano

Sally Matthews

Kate Royal

Tenor

Andrew Staples

Contralto

Bernarda Fink

Topi Lehtipuu

Baritone

Christian Gerhaher

Chorus master

Simon Halsey

Orchestra

Berliner Philharmoniker

Simon Rattle conducts Schumann’s “Paradise and the Peri”

Berlin

Germany

Berliner Philharmonie

Robert Schumann’s Paradise and the Peri is one of the works that Simon Rattle would take with him to the proverbial “desert island”. It is music full of inspiration and beauty; in addition, there is probably no other choral work that exudes the spirit of German Romanticism as intensely. In this recording from 2009 it is presented by Sir Simon, an outstanding ensemble of soloists and the Berliner Rundfunkchor.

Simon Rattle conducts Schumann’s “Paradise and the Peri”: Concert Various

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“He is the most honest of all composers,” Sir Simon Rattle once said about Robert Schumann. During Rattle’s tenure as chief conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker Schumann has increasingly become a stronger focus of the orchestra’s work, and all the Schumann symphonies were programmed during the 2008/2009 season, with various conductors. The “secular oratorio” Das Paradies und die Peri (Paradise and the Peri) was also presented under Rattle’s baton – a work which Sir Simon has said he would take with him to the proverbial “desert island”. Schumann himself regarded Peri as one of his best compositions. After great successes during his lifetime, the work was almost completely forgotten later. One of its admirers was the great Italian maestro Carlo Maria Giulini, who drew Sir Simon’s attention to the beauty of the underrated score.

The work, which combines oratorical, operatic and songlike characteristics in an oriental atmosphere, seems to hover between the worlds, like its protagonist. The peri, whose story Schumann drew from Thomas Moore’s epic tale Lalla Rookh, has both earthly and celestial origins. During the story she tries to gain admittance to paradise, which should actually remain closed to her because of her background. The international ensemble of soloists was led by soprano Sally Matthews as the peri and baritone Christian Gerhaher, who has championed Robert Schumann’s lesser-known works for many years and shares Simon Rattle’s enthusiasm for Das Paradies und die Peri.

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