Mahler composed Das Lied von der Erde in ill health towards the end of his life, and he died before the work’s première took place in 1911, conducted by his close friend Bruno Walter. Incredibly, it took another 25 years before the work was first recorded, once again conducted by Walter, with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, which in 1936 would have included musicians who had played under Mahler himself. Not since this recorded première from 1936 has the sophistication of Mahler’s visionary masterpiece been so closely preserved. To complete the programme Walter conducts the tender Adagietto from the Fifth Symphony, undoubtedly Mahler’s best-loved work.