The Little Drummer Boy

In this musical essay, Leonard Bernstein recollects and relives his experiences with the music of the great Viennese composer and conductor Gustav Mahler. The Little Drummer Boy illustrates the fundamental concepts of Bernstein's interpretation of Mahler's works and exposes not only the building material and framework of Mahler's brilliant structures, but also the tensional pulls within them. Searching for the musical roots and the hidden truths guiding the composer, Bernstein covers works from "Der Tambourg'sell" (From Des Knaben Wunderhorn, written in 1899), via all the symphonies, to Mahler's last and greatest song, Das Lied von der Erde (1910)

Soloists: 

Christa Ludwig (Mezzo-Soprano), Edith Mathis (Soprano), Lucia Popp (Soprano), Janet Baker (Mezzo-Soprano), Walton Groenroos (Baritone)

Ensembles: 

Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Wiener Philharmoniker

Conductor: 

Leonard Bernstein