CD:
Meistersaal Sessions: Romantic Chamber Music

This CD presents 6 chamber music concerts by the Freigeist Ensemble at the historic Meistersaal Berlin, featuring works by Mahler, Strauss, and Schönberg.

The Meistersaal Sessions are a 6-part series of chamber music theme concerts with the Freigeist Ensemble at the legendary Meistersaal Berlin, conducted by Joolz Gale. The series starts with arrangements of Schönberg, Strauss and Mahler. In collaboration with British photographer Gavin Evans, these club-concert sessions come live from the legendary Meistersaal Berlin, known historically as the “big hall by the Berlin Wall”. Its art-deco building is the current home of Emil Berliner Studios (audio partner for this project) and steeped in many decades of musical history.

Each of the four sessions in this album feature one musical work that represents the roots of Freigeist Ensemble’s oeuvre. Linking the musical worlds of Berlin and Vienna, these early compositions by Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler and Arnold Schönberg are all featured in a chamber music format.

Winner of the OPUS Klassik 2021, the Freigeist Ensemble is a courageous collective of supersonic soloists from German symphony orchestras that repackages symphonic music for new audiences. Its mission is to revolutionise the style, sound and setting of classical concerts.

Genre Chamber Music
Recording location Meistersaal Berlin
Recording date 01.08.2021
Production year 2023
Duration 61 mins
Production Company Freigeist Productions gGmbH
Composer Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, Arnold Schönberg
Orchestra / Band Freigeist Ensemble
Conductor Joolz Gale
Soloist Marlis Petersen, soprano