Mahler, Bartók & Ravel tickets

Sleigh bells and sweet melodies tumble out from Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, painting a scene the composer compared to “a dewdrop on a flower that suddenly illuminated by the sun, bursts into a thousand lights and colors.” Former Dudamel Fellow Elim Chan leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic as they traverse a shifting atmosphere of mellow woodwinds, menacing trumpet calls, and eager timpani wallops, before approaching the gates of heaven.

When everything unravels in the final movement, South African soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha voices Mahler’s joyful child, envisioning what lies beyond the pearly gates. With her “sumptuous, plush sound,” Rangwanasha “floats high notes with almost indecent ease. Hear a few of them live and it’s as if you’ve died and (sins allowing) gone straight to Heaven” (The Times of London).