Boston Philharmonic Orchestra: Mahler 4 & Strauss's Four Last Songs

The Boston Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO), under the direction of Conductor Benjamin Zander, performs Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, the first of three Mahler symphony performances in 2025 (in addition to the Mahler 6 on March 2 and Mahler 2 on April 18), as well as Strauss’s Four Last Songs, at Symphony Hall in Boston on Sunday, February 16 at 3 PM. The astonishingly versatile Claire Booth, one of Britain’s leading sopranos, does double duty as soloist on both works. The concert will also be live streamed for free on the Boston Philharmonic’s YouTube channel.

Newcomers and seasoned concertgoers alike are invited to attend Zander’s popular “Guide to the Music” at 1:45 PM, which provides a more vivid experience of the music. He first conducted Mahler’s Fourth 50 years ago, which led to a lifetime engagement with Mahler’s music and gained him a world-wide reputation as one of the leading Mahler interpreters of the day; in 2023, the Gustav Mahler Society of New York’s awarded him their very first Titan Award “For his outstanding achievements and contributions as conductor, scholar, lecturer and educator of the music of Gustav Mahler.” The presentation of three demanding Mahler symphonies in Boston within a two-month period underscores Zander’s enduring passion and unflagging energy at age 86.

Four Last Songs, a poignant meditation on life's transience, calls for a soprano with rich tones and autumnal sensibility, whereas Mahler’s Fourth requires a soprano to sing with the crystalline lightness of a child to conjure the final movement’s innocent vision of paradise. Booth is that rare singer who can effortlessly bridge both worlds.

Booth is renowned for her breadth of repertoire and for the vitality and musicianship that she brings to the operatic stage and concert platform, with repertoire ranging from Monteverdi and Handel to Rossini, Berg and Britten, as well as having a deep commitment to the music of the present day. She is perhaps best known for her two decades of collaboration with the late Oliver Knussen, which included the world premieres of his Requiem: Songs for Sue with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and O Hototogisu! with the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, and for her performances as Max in Where the Wild Things Are and Rhoda in Higglety, Pigglety, Pop!, performed at both the Aldeburgh Festival and with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel, among others.

Last year she commissioned two new world premieres: Helen Grime’s Folk, a series of scenes for soprano and orchestra created in collaboration with Zoe Gilbert and based on the author’s critically acclaimed novel (debuted in September 2024 with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Ryan Wigglesworth and performed again at the 2025 Aldeburgh Festival); and Zoe Martlew’s “Willkommen, Welcome, Bienvenue,” an original, cabaret-inspired program that takes its cue from Schoenberg’s Cabaret Songs, which will be performed at festivals around the UK in 2025, including London’s Wigmore Hall. She also led a “one woman campaign” promoting the music of Arnold Schoenberg during his 150th year with a series of performances of both his lieder and his seminal Pierrot Lunaire, in addition to two new recordings.

Individual tickets range from $32 to $125. Student tickets are $12 with code STU-DIS or with an ID at the Symphony Hall box office. Order at www.bostonphil.org or by calling 617-236-0999. Free live streams are available at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu2PSDlFJWWXYIfyyiWu5hw; edited recordings will be available later.