Magnificent Mahler Symphony no 2. Jakub Hrůša, Philharmonia Orchestra

Photo: Roger Thomas

Visceral and intense Mahler Symphony no 2 ("The Resurrection") with Jakub Hrůša conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall with Camilla Tilling, Jennifer Johnston, The Philharmonia Chorus.  How lucky I was to attend with friends who between us have clocked up hundreds of performances of Mahler's Second over the last fifty years.  Proof that the better a piece is, the more there is to discover. Every good performance yields insights : in a market now oversaturated with safe and predictable, it's a joy to hear an approach that derives fresh from the score itself, rather than from market expectations. 

With his foundations in Czech repertoire, Hrůša doesn't do "routine" Mahler. I heard him do Mahler in 2017 when he conducted Mahler's Symphony no 4 with the Czech Philharmonic, then again in 2018 when he conducted Mahler Symphony no 5 with the Philharmonia. Please read my article "How Bohemian was  Gustav Mahler?" HERE. With this Mahler Symphony no 2, the answer is that Mahler was Mahler, drawing on roots far deeper than "just" the Austro-German tradition, addressing universal human issues with highly individual and original passion.  As in most of Mahler, there are extremes in this symphony,  but they're not there just for effect. They serve a purpose. What can be more extreme than the contrast between death and life ? Death is shocking, and it is final, whether or not you believe in resurrection in any conventional sense.  But Hrůša appreciates what Mahler might have meant. The  Klopstock hymn Mahler quotes offers "Unsterblich Leben!....Wieder aufzublüh’n, wirst du gesät! Der Herr der Ernte geht Und sammelt Garben Uns ein, die starben.". This image of regrowth and renewal as part of the cycle of Nature pops up again in Mahler : "Allüberall und ewig blauen licht die Fernen! Ewig... ewig... " 

The first movement was inspired in part by the funeral of Hans von Bülow, who Mahler venerated.  Yet it begins with a great burst of energy. It needs this kind iof emphasis, since it's is a herald of what is to come.  Haitink has taken this movement very slowly, focussing on the way a body shuts down gradually before oblivion, a very good insight indeed.  A funeral march is processional, but its destination is never in doubt. No-one ever gets away ! Hrůša maintains a steady pace, but makes clear the figures in the background that propel the movement - lines that fly in sequence, strings sometimes bowed, sometimes plucked, pizzicato like running footseps, always flowing. Not for nothing did Luciano Berio incorporate Mahler's Second into his Sinfonia, making connctions with a river, fed by many tributaries, flowing into an ocean, refreshed again by rain. Another image of the cycle of Nature. Hrůša's Allegro maestoso is "Mit durchaus ernstem und feierlichem Ausdruck", the dignity all the more moving because it carries in its flow a sense that passage is not in itself an end. That final rushing descent into the abyss had a powerful kick, echoing in the silence of the Luftpause. Hrůša and the orchestra knew that it's there to signify the silence of oblivion, purgatory before resurrection. Pity the RFH audience thought it was time for a coughing epidemic. 

The unrushed Andante acted as a foil to the urgency of the Allegro. Although much is made of the Ländler aspects, these too exist as part of the wider concept, for peasants live in harmony with the seasons and with the cycle of natural change. Though peasant dances can be crude, it doesn't follow that performance needs to be crude, so Hrůša's emphasis on the vernal aspects of this movement renminded us that even in dark times, things happen under the earth which will eventually bear fruit.The third movement again brings contrast, which Hrůša magnified when the cymbals and timpani, centred in the middle of the platform, exploded into life. I nearly jumped out of my seat, but that was fine. Mahler knew what he was doing when he wrote this shockingly bold introduction. This schrezo quotes Mahler's song Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt. Like Dionysius, St Anthony is drunk, preaching to fish who hear but do not actually listen. Perhaps the song is used to indicate the futility of words, which is ironic, since in this symphony Mahler begins to use voice as part of his orchestral toolbox.  On the other hand, though, the fish represent a life force much more powerful than mankind.  Their actions speak louder than pious prayers.  Hrůša was particularly effective evoking the fluid energy in the leaping figures which suggest the movement of fish, leaping upwards, out of their natural watery environment, scrapping exuberantly, being true to their natuures, and swimming away, free. A glorious climax: summer is marching in, references to Pan, Dionysius and Mahler's Symphony no 3. But yet again, though a sudden wild diminuendo at the very end, gongs reverberating. Urlicht (here with Jennifer Johnston) is a cry of anguish, much like the agony of childbirth. For indeed, this is a turning point in the symphony. Like childbirth, there is a purpose to suffering "Ich ließ mich nicht abweisen! Ich bin von Gott und will wieder zu Gott!". 
 
The extremes inherent in this score can be overdone, but not on this occasion.  In the all-important final movement, Hrůša had thought through the dynamics of the Royal Festival Hall and in the orchestra.  The doubles basses sat just behind the harps, together magnifying impact : the darker sounds like the earth, the brighter sounds like heaven.  Magnificent rolling percussion, swept by turbulent strings, as another march develops, this time an irrepressibly energetic march, the brass sassy, bells ringing in celebration. For all we knoiw this might be the march of the life force exemplified by the fishes, hence the cheeky screams from the lower woodwinds, and the defiant, swirling figures, the sudden diminuendo and the wailing trombones, their chill turning to more sublime, otherworldy figures from which the phrase "Das himmliche Leben" emerges,with woodwind calls. 

The offstage brass ensemble was seated outside the auditorium, just outside the Green-side door,  invisible but with just the right degree of audibility. Usually in this hall, they get put into a box, often the Royal Box but the effect is often too strident.  This also allowed the finer details, like the delicate woodwinds and pizzicato to shine clearly. Later, when the offstage brass returned, the horns stood above the orchestra to the left of the conductor, while the trumpets stood to his right, spreading the balance with much better effect. The importance of spatial elements can't be stressed enough - this is "a symphony that contains the world", past, present, future.  Every instrumental voice matters, just as every mortal who has ever lived or died. At last the voices are set free, the soloists, Camilla Tilling and Jennifer Johnston, leading the choir. Though the diction of the choruses wasn't ideal, I'd much rather hear them sing with musical intelligence like this, the reverence better integrated with the soloists and orchestra.  In any case, they echo the words the soloists sing, and this symphony is so well known that most people know what the texts mean. When the male voices cried out "Bereite dich zu leben!" everything came together in magnificent climax.  

This concert will be broadcast internationally, online on BBC radio3 on Monday, 9th March

Inspirational Mahler Symphony no 2 Sakari Oramo BBC SO Prom

Prom 45 2017 - BBC SO, Sakari Oramo photo : BBC

Powerfully Inspired Mahler Symphony no 2 "The Resurrection", with Sakari Oramo and the BBC SO, soloists Elizabeth Watts and Elisabeth Kulman with the BBC Symphony Chorus and the Bach Choir,  Prom 45. Because we hear Oramo and the BBC SO so many times each year, we take them for granted.  But they are a formidably good band.  Yet here they surpassed even their normal high standards.  This was an extraordinarily moving Mahler 2. The performance was dedicated to the memory of Jiří Bělohlávek, the former Chief Conductor, who loved this orchestra and was loved by them in return.  Please read my piece Jiří Bělohlávek : a tribute to the innovator and to the man.  Bělohlávek last conducted the BBC SO a few weeks before his death, so this performance with Oramo felt unusually personal and sincere.  But it was also masterful, lively and spirited, with depth and insight, which is saying something,  since there are so many Mahler 2's around all the time, only the very finest, like this one, live on in the memory.
From the very first chords, it was clear that this would be nothing routine. The zing in the strings felt disturbing, even dangerous, for the symphony is a journey into unknown territory. Thus the ferocious tension, timpani, clashing cymbals and brass ablaze, alternating with long, keening string lines. reaching out into space.  Then into the funeral march with its steady tread, reminding us of humility. Life inevitably comes to an end, for all mankind, whatever their station.  But for a moment, we heard again the lyrical pastoral theme, like a distant memory.  This performance highlighted how the unrelenting march continued, quietly, in the background, despite the anguish around it.  Quiet, purposeful pizzicato, like footsteps, lead into savage brass climaxes, creating the sense of hard-won stages on a difficult ascent. It's interesting how Mahler contrasts powerful tutti with solo instruments: individuals clearly defined despite the overwhelming forces around them.  Yet again the march continued, the horns blowing eerily, full of incident and detail, but relentless, though the vigour with which Oramo marked the sudden, spiralling denouement showed such defiance that it felt as though the music was mocking death itself.
The Allegro maestoso harks back to happier times. It's warm hearted and human scaled (very Sakari Oramo). Delicate pizzicato footsteps and the ring of harps.  But repose doesn't last.  The third movement, marked 'In ruhig fließender Bewegung' flowed with vigorous expansiveness: no surprise that Luciano Berio used it in Sinfonia as a metaphor for life and for the continuation of creative imagination.  The BBC SO strings seemed to come alive : lissom playing, suggesting the fishes leaping out of water, their scales shining, unbothered by St Antonius's moralizing. "So there" shouted the timpani, for emphasis.  Again, Oramo marked the sudden denouement, from which sprang the anthem O Röschen rot!  Elisabeth Kullman's voice has a lovely, glowing timbre, well suited to expressing the light in Urlicht, for it is light that leads the soul onwards.
The brass fanfare was bright, too, but also sombre and quirky, almost like primeval instruments from ancient times.  Again the surging "footsteps", reinforced by lighter, dancing figures, before the fanfare returned.  The searching string chords, and wailing brass might suggest mourning, but they also mark the beginning of a new phase, as the march moved forward, purposefully. With a clatter of percussion and brass, and the crash of cymbals, the music rose to a glorious climax : woodwinds singing gleefully, the string lines expansive.  Have we reached a peak ? Again, Oramo highlighted the contrast between this glory and the massive, overpowering roll that follows, intense because it marks the Dies Irae, the Days of Wrath at the End of Time.  Now the march continued with tight but taut energy. Almost wild abandon, though the BBC SO players are far too good to lose momentum by not keeping together.  Yet again, the crescendi dissolved into pure, refined textures.   Penitent, reverent strokes of the harps, then the brass, from above and below, the latter earthier and more plaintive.  Two trumpets call out, stretching out into space, uniting Heaven and Earth. The woodwinds sang brightly, creating images of light and movement. 
The BBC Symphony Chorus and the Bach Choir  entered quietly, in hushed reverence. British choirs are astonishingly good, and we shouldn't take them for granted.  "Aufersteh'n, ja aufersteh'n Wirst du, Mein Staub,..."  Exceptionally lucid singing.  Trumpets called out, as if reaching beyond a horizon.  Just as the earthly and heavenly brass united,  Elisabeth Kulman and Elizabeth Watts sang together, the choruses encircling them like a halo of sound, joined later by high winds and strings.  Kulman sang "O Glaube" her voice resolute, "Du wardst nicht umsonst geboren! Hast nicht umsonst gelebt, gelitten!"   Being born means struggle, but life is not in vain.  This resolution - resurrection -  is, it has been reached by inner strength and determination.  That's when an orchestra as good as the BBC SO shows its mettle. Its technical excellence inspired by intense, personal committment wrought miracles tonight.

Mahler, silence, creativity and Holy Saturday

Today is Holy Saturday, the quiet day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. It gets overlooked because nothing seems to be happening. Quite the contrary. Holy Saturday functions  as a  Luftpause, like silence after the first movement  in Mahler's Second Symphony, and between the first and second parts of Mahler's Symphony no 8.  Ignore the silences and lose the whole meaning of the symphonies. It's hard to understand the value of silence in a world obsessed with dominant ego, the "Triumph of the Will" mentality in which blitz and bluff mean more than genuine content.  Silence  cleanses the mind and soul from the toxic pollution of white noise and babble inflicted on us like a barrage 24/7. Silence, like deep meditation, draws us inwards. It's not an easy option, which is why it drives empty vessels nuts.  The cessation of meaningless chatter is hard work, as those who practice it will attest, be they Buddhist, Christian, Quaker or whatever.

The first movement of Mahler's Symphony no 2, was inspired in part by the funeral of Hans von Bülow, who Mahler venerated. Hence the deliberate pace, like a processional, moving with purpose. Snatches of melody appear, like memories of happier times, the destination is inevitable. Frequently I cite Haitink, who has taken this movement so slowly that his orchestras can barely hold the line. But that's an insight: the body is shutting down, cooling down, heading towards obliteration. The symphony isn't called "the Resurrection" for nothing, though Mahler's theology, like Wagner's,  is freely adapted. Jesus dies, but it's not Game Over for mankind. Like grass grows again in Spring, ewig, ewig, ewig........

Like any mortal, Jesus suffered, died and was buried. This is central to Christian belief because it connects mankind and God.  It's fundamental that Jesus didn't neatly pop from one plane of existence to another without having shared the sufferings of the world. No one's ever come back from death to confirm it, but the theory is that the soul exists in limbo for a while before it heads off to the next life. Consider Elgar's Dream of Gerontius (1902) with its theologically legit text, by Cardinal Newman, where the two parts are separate, transition emphasized in the music. Thus the Purgatorio in Mahler's Symphony no 10  where the delicate first movement is followed by a scherzo where swaggering grotesques, flattened horns, shrill trumpets, echo the marches of death in earlier symphonies. Whatever it means, it's a bridge towards the Allegro Pesante, a stage in the passage of ideas. For me, the Purgatorio echoes the Wunderhorn song Das irdisches Leben: a small, plaintive cry amid larger, more dominant forces., a Luftpause with sound, so to speak.

Only after this transition has taken place can the souls progress.  The duration of the pause in Mahler Second is less critical than the fact that it is observed long enough for it to be respected for what it is.   It's not a time for letting latecomers swarm in, disturbing the moment for others, though latecomers (and those who let them in) probably don't mean to be disruptive. But what excuse is there for sticking an interval between the two parts of Mahler's Symphony no 8.? The symphony has been performed whole for a hundred years, so singers and audiences can manage fine.. In any case, the soloists have less to sing than they might in an opera and there's that long non-vocal section in the second part for them to recover.

Mahler's Symphony no 8 is a strange beast, a hybrid  that defies conventional form.  The first part used a medieval Latin hymn attributed to  Rabanus, Archbishop of Mainz (c780-856) which describes how Jesus's disciples wondered what would happen to them since Jesus had gone on ahead.  In the Acts of the Apostles, the Holy Spirit descended from heaven upon them in the form of holy flames, inspiring them to go forth into the world, spreading the Gospels.

The Pentecost is thus a metaphor for divine inspiration and, by extension, the mission embraced by a truly original, creative artist.  "Veni, Creator spiritus" connects the spirit of creation with the Spirit of the Creator.   Thus "Accende lumen sensibus", the concept of light, rising upwards linking to heaven, illuminating those it touches, cleansing them of ego, selfishness and petty concerns.  Truly original creativity, like meditative prayer, comes when the pollution of toxic detritus is expunged.  Goethe's anchorites live in humble isolation, communing only with  God.  Their art isn't Triumph of the Will bluster. Some would die like Jesus did.  Goethe also alludes to the Eternal Feminine, and by implication the connection between women and redemption. It's highly significant that, at the Pentecost, the Virgin Mary and other female disciples were present.  The two parts of Mahler's Eighth connect on very deep levels indeed.  So the silence between the two parts of the symphony serves a powerful purpose, marking spiritual transformation. Ideally, listeners should sit and reflect, not rush out to the bar, serving Mammon not the soul, mindlessly chattering not looking inwards.

FX Roth Luciano Berio Sinfonia

François-Xavier Roth conducted the LSO in Luciano Berio's Sinfonia at the Barbican Hall, London, the culmination of a two-concert series that also featured Ligeti Atmosphères, Thomas Adès  Chamber Symphony, Schoenberg Chamber Symphony (for contrast) and two world premieres, Darren Bloom's Dr Glaser's Experiment and Elizabeth Ogonek's Sleep and Remebrance. a weeping programme, and an audacious pairing of Adès  and Schoenberg. From Roth, we can always expect the extraordinary, As Luciano Berio said "The unexpected is always with us".

Berio's Sinfonia was written in 1968, one of those watershed years in history, like 1848, when the world seems to undergo a massive sea change even if the results aren't clear for a while. 1968 was also a pivotal year for music. I remember reading about The Raft of the Medusa, (read more |HERE) not yet realizing who Henze was - I was just a kid - but aware it was something I had to find out about.

Berio's Sinfonia symbolizes so much of what 1968 meant - openness and the will to explore,  a sense of endless possibilities, and an awareness that our perceptions of life are shaped by complex and multipole networks of human experience.

Berio describes the Sinfonia  as an "internal monologue" which makes a "harmonic journey". It flows, like a river, bringing in its wake the streams and springs which have enriched it, adapting them and changing them, surging ever forwards towards the freedom of the ocean. It's filled with subtle references to many things: to Cythera, one of the cradles of Greek civilization and the home of the goddess of regeneration.  Sinfonia is truly a "symphony that contains the world" but it is by no means just collage. It's so original that it rewards active, thoughtful listening. 

Quotes from Mahler's Symphony no 2 run through the Sinfonia, like a river, sometimes in full flow, sometimes underground.  Mahler 2 is called the "Resurrection" because it's based on the idea that death isn't an end but a stage on a journey to eternal life.  There are quotes from at least 15 other cpmposers, but specially significant  are references to Don, the first movement of Boulez's Pli selon Pli ( which means fold upon fold, ie, endless layers and permutations).  (Read more HERE)  Don means gift, so this is like a gift  from one composer to another. What has gone before shapes what is to come, but absolutely central is the idea that creativity never ends, but is reborn anew.  Stagnation is death.  Incidentally one of the best recordings of the Sinfonia was conducted by Boulez, who relished its audacity. 

"For the unexpected is always upon us"  illuminates the deliberately obscurantist miasma of the text, partly based on Samuel Beckett, though there are also phrases from Claude Lévi-Strauss, the anthropologist of myth. The style is often almost conversational.  so you're drawn into what's being spoken, only to be confronted by something elusively confusing. You navigate, as on the rapids of a river, by paying attention and being intuitive, Once I heard an apparently true anecdote about someone who built a machine that could write music.  Along came Berio, who twiddled a few knobs and buttons and created something genuinely original.  The machine's inventor was not pleased.  That's the difference between real art and fake.

Berio had a quiet sense of humour. When he quotes Mahler's Des Antonius von Paduas Fischpredikt (read more here) , he knows the fish don't understand and will keep fighting.  Perhaps Berio knew that some folk would never "get" Sinfonia, but he wasn't bothered as he didn't need to prove anything.  Traditionally -- if that's a word which can apply to someone as lively as Berio -- the texts have been semi-spoken at odd pitches, using tuning forks and impossibly clipped British accents, which adds to the sense of quixotic unreality. At the end, the performers name and thank each other -- reality playing tricks with art.

Berio's Sinfonia connects, too, to many other works of the period, such as Stockhausen's Hymnen  (read more HERE) and to Bernd Alois Zimmermann's Requiem for a Young Poet (Read more here).  All three pieces "open windows" in different ways onto other aspects of life, culture, history, literature and music. All attempt a creative and original synthesis of human existence. Not easy goals to achieve. Indeed, I'm not sure that music like that can be written today in times where so many prize insularity and fear diversity.  François-Xavier Roth strikes me as an ideal Sinfonia conductor because his background lies in the adventurousness of the baroque, which has animated his passion for the avant garde. (Read more HERE)   Feview of the second concert coming soon.

Boulez Mahler 2, informed by Messiaen

Pierre Boulez stands, in silence, after the conclusion of his Mahler Symphony no 2  at the Philharmonie, Berlin, in 2005.  Look at Boulez's expression. The music hasn't ended simply because the notes have faded away.  the symphony ends gloriously but victory hasn't been reached without struggle.  Der Mensch liegt in größter Not! Der r Mensch liegt in größter Pein!  Not even angels can turn the soul away from God. Boulez's approach in this performance, with the Staatskapelle Berlin, is steely, craggy and utterly determined.  He understands the significance of the first movement and the stages through which the soul goes on its journey. A quiet but intense reading, absolutely true to the composer and to his work as a whole entity.

Today, listening after Boulez's own death this week,  what struck me is the relationship this performance  has to Messiaen's Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum. Mahler isn't writing about the death of one man but about mankind's search for meaning.  Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum refers to the End of Time, when an angel shall sound a trumpet asnd the earth will be rent asunder. Cataclysmic stuff, bringing from Messiaen music that's almost geological in its cragginess - no strings, only percussion and winds, Boulez's interpretation  is informed by his knowledge of Messiaen and perhaps, too, by his own formidable knowledge of music history. When the trombones blast, and the distant trumpets are heard, we think of the Angel of the Book of Revelation,  as Mahler almost certainly did,  and when we hear the piccolo details, we can figure better what they might mean. Obviously my appreciation of this performance is informed by my fascination with Messiaen and with Et Exspecto resurrectionum mortuorum and the Quartet for The End of Time. Read some of what I've written before HERE and HERE.and much more.

But my response is also affected by thinking so much this week about Boulez and Messiaen.  They had a bond like father and son, which ran even deeper than many real-life father and son relationships. A few years ago, someone made a snide, nasty remark about Boulez disliking Turangalîla-and falling out temporarily with Messaien.  It was the usual silly notion of Boulez as demon. Pierre-Laurent Aimard was present and hit the roof.  Aimard, who was Messiaen's "second son", said he'd heard about it direct from Messiaen himself. Since when do fathers and sons always agree? Messiaen used the term Tuer le père which simply means that you can't grow up unless you stand on your own feet.  Messiaen knew Boulez's abilities and wouldn't have dreamed of holding him back. The scrap didn't last. Soon after, Boulez heard that Messiaen was looking for a balofon. Messiaen found one and carried it, as a surprise, up to the organ loft at the Église de la Sainte-Trinité where Messaien played every day. Messiaen was so happy he had tears of joy even when telling Aimard about it years later.  Creative minds aren't constrained: copying is a mark of mediocrity.  Healthy relationships are not threatened by fear of change.  And so Messiaen and Boulez will continue to enlighten us long after they are gone|

Luciano Berio Sinfonia "For the unexpected is always with us"

Luciano Berio, right,  with Schubert.  An apt point on which to start discussing Berio's Sinfonia (1968), a key work of modern times.  Today I watched again Frank Scheffer's film A Voyage to Cythera, which was ground breaking on first release. It remains fresh and challenging sixteen years later, an absolute must for anyone interested in the way artists absorb influences to enrich their own creative imaginations.  There are composers who do pick and mix, (one whom I shan't name) -- a symphony in one style, an opera in another, but being derivative is a dead end. Beware plagiarism, almost inevitably the mark of mediocrity. 

Good composers internalize and learn. Cythera  in mythology was the home of the goddess of renewal and  regeneration.  Thus the film starts with shots of a strange primordial-looking landscape out of which arise strains of Mahler’s Symphony no 2, a "Resurrection" in the deepest sense.  Berio's Sinfonia is no mere collage but a  strikingly original new work that defies conventional ideas of what a symphony "should" be.

Berio describes the Sinfonia  as an "internal monologue" which makes a "harmonic journey". It flows, like a river, bringing in its wake the streams and springs which have enriched it, adapting them and changing them, surging ever forwards towards the freedom of the ocean.  Like Mahler himself, Berio was cerebral. Berio is seen in his study, surrounded by scores and books, with a model ship on display. Riccardo Chailly, also highly focused and erudite, talks about Stravinsky and Schoenberg, who, in their different ways, progressed the direction of modern music. Composers don't operate in "schools".  Schoenberg's great achievement was to opens tonality outwards so others could develop things further.  In Sinfonia, there are references to at least 15 different composers, some quite subtle. There's a  quotation from Don, the first movement of Boulez's Pli selon Pli (fold upon fold).  It's a "gift"  from one master to another, both of them fascinated by multi-dimensional levels and perspectives, ever-changing flurries and eddies.  Incidentally one of the best recordings of the Sinfonia was conducted by Boulez, who relished the wit.

"For the unexpected is always upon us"  as a phrase rings out clearly, illuminating the deliberately obscurantist miasma of the text, partly based on Samuel Beckett, though there are also phrases from
Claude Lévi-Strauss, the anthropologist of myth. The style is often almost conversational.  so you're drawn into what's being spoken, only to be confronted by something elusively confusing. You navigate, as on the rapids of a river, by paying attention and being intutitive,. Take nothing for granted:  meaning operates on many levels.  Once I heard an anecdote about someone who built a formidable machine that could invent music, electronically.  Along came Berio, who twiddled a few knobs and buttons and created something genuinely interesting.  He made real music by not being too up himself.

Berio had a quiet sense of humour. When he quotes Mahler's Des Antonius von Paduas Fischpredikt (read more here) , he knows the fish don't understand and will keep fighting. Perhaps Berio knew that some folk would never "get" Sinfonia, but so what as long as a few do.  Traditionally -- if that's a word which can apply to someone as lively as Berio -- the texts have been semi-spoken at odd pitches, using tuning forks and impossibly clipped British accents, which adds to the sense of quixotic unreality. At the end, the performers name and thank each other -- reality playing tricks with art. No performance of Berio's Sinfonia is ever quite the same, and you get something different each time.  "For the unexpected is always upon us".  

Mahler 2 in context : Casadesus live broadcast

The Orchestre National de Lille marked its 40th anniversary yesterday, which was broadcast live on arte tv (available for a month).  But the events in Paris, in Mali, in Beirut, in the whole world overshadow all else.  Jean-Claude Casadesus stands before his orchestra and addresses the audience. "We are united in our thoughts and hearts", he says as he dedicates the concert to the memory of those whose lives have been destroyed.  And why Mahler's Second at this time?  It deals with death, made poignant by memories of past happiness. But there are things more powerful than death."Sterben werd' ich, um zu leben!",

It's not the finest perfomance ever but it's certainly  not the worst. I got a lot out of it. Why do listeners need  to rush to extremes?  Music does not exist for the edification of any one individual.  For a while I've been thinking a lot about the causes of extremism in all its forms. It's not ideology or religion per se.

Extremism attracts those who don't have a coherent idea of what they're  attacking, as long as they're part of a mob where "consensus"  affords unquestioning self righteousness. Blowing up Palmyra proves what? God allowed the ruins to stand. So extremists are greater than God?  So often extremists are narcissists, seething with resentment at anyone more talented, lucky or just plain different from themselves. If the world should exist in one's own image, it's OK to destroy what doesn't fit? Thank God, or whoever, that music is too complex  too subtle for those with closed minds to fully comprehend.

Alondra de la Parra Mahler Symphony

Alondra de la Parra conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra in Mahler's Symphony no 2. Alondra de la Parra?  A friend sent me a link to the concert on medici.tv  Her name was a blank to me and her wiki stub isn't well written. But then another friend, whose taste is generally impeccable,  said "She's the real deal".

Definitely worth listening to. De la Parra isn't a genius, but why should she have to be? It's enough that she is good, and  comes over as a person with distinctive ideas,  who cares about the music and the way it should be expressed, which is a good thing. What I liked about this performance is that it is well thought through with a strong sense of what Boulez would have called "trajectory", integrated movement towards a purpose. The Urlicht is one of the critical stages in the journey. At first the mezzo sings of suffering but then of confrontation. An angel blocks the way. But the protagonist will defy even angels to reach his or her goal.

"Ach nein! Ich ließ mich nicht abweisen!

Ich bin von Gott und will wieder zu Gott!

And so, in this performance that sense of dogged determination shines through from the very first bars, produced with defiant panache.  Interestingly, that urgency marks the very last bars of the first movement, emphasizing the dramatic contrast of the silence of the Luftpause. I thought of the way a cardiac chart spikes upward then descends into flatline at the moment of death.

The processional nature of this First Movement was very clearly defined, each change of mood articulated with deliberation - "Mit durchaus ernstem und feierlichem Ausdruck". As anyone who has observed Catholic ceremonial will appreciate, religious processions have liturgical significance. The funeral march incorporates not only the last steps of the cortege but also a commemoration of  the person's life.  Hence the significance of detail throughout this performance - distant pastoral sounds suggesting happier memories and solo instruments played with clarity, suggesting the fragility of life. 

De la Parra is conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra, which we can hear a dozen times a year in London. Here, they sound different, as if they are listening to de la Parra for a different perspective. The soloists (Jennifer Johnston and Olivia Gorra) were fine and the choir is the City of Birmingham Chorus, directed by Simon Halsey. Medici.tv included the concert as part of a series about great concert halls of the world. Again, I don't know the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, whose acoustic seems to pick up every cough and dropped programme booklet. But I would certainly like to hear de la Parra again because she's interesting.  Listen more here where she conducts the first concert of the Verbier Festival Music Camp (youth orchestra, very green) in July this year. When this concert was recorded live last week, she looked very pregnant indeed - all the more respect to her! (the photo above must have been taken a while back). May the baby grow up to have a good ear.  ,

Not funny - Mahler Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt

Is Mahler's song,  Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt,  from Des Knaben Wunderhorn,  meant to be funny ?  On the surface, it's droll, but as with so much good art, it's not a good idea to judge by surface appearances.  Saint Anthony of  Padua, a contemporary of St Francis of Assisi who preached to birds, was a famous orator, with phenomenal abilities to convert the heathen. In the poem from Des Knaben Wunderhorn, collected by Brentano and  von Arnim, the saint arrives at an empty church. So he goes down to the river and preaches to fish instead.  The fish leap and glisten, with excitement.  "Kein Predigt niemalen, den Karpfen so g'fallen"  Nothing like a juicy sermon, even if you can't speak.Latin.  Each verse describes a different type of fish, crabs and turtles, which wouldn't happen in nature.The stylized strophic refrains are a further clue that this isn't reality.

"Fisch große, Fisch kleine, Vornehm und gemeine,
Erheben die Köpfe, Wie verständge Geschöpfe:
Auf Gottes Begehren, Die Predigt anhören."

To the devout, it's a kind of miracle, taken seriously. But, as so often, literalism is the enemy of art. Whoever crafted the poem subverts the pious image.  The minute the saint turns his back, the fish are back to their own ways.  "Spitzgoschete Hechte, die immerzu fechten" remain quarrelsome thieves. Note , too, the greedy carp, whose mouths are always open, swallowing anything they're fed,  A pointed warning for our  times when received wisdom replaces thought. . 

Mahler's setting of the poem reflects its mischief.  The markings indicate "with humour" on the piano part , its rolling rhythms suggesting that the saint's been too free with communion wine, although from what we know of the early Franciscan order, they were ascetic, not given to indulgence. It's a sly reference to Dionysius, a figure who pops up elsewhere in Mahler's work, specifically in Symphony no 3.  This humour is deceptive. "This piece is really as if nature were pulling faces and sticking its tongue out at you" (said Mahler)  "But it contains such a spine-chilling panic-like humour that one is overcome more by dismay than laughter". 

War, loss and death are recurring themes in the Wunderhorn saga. Thomas Hampson has called some of them "negative love songs" for they are neither optimistic nor sentimental. The regimentation of military life contrasts with individual freedom,  though these brief escapes through love and imagination are doomed. In death. troops of skeletons march through streets, and lovers meet, as ghosts. Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt isn't funny. It's a wail of despair, though the wit dulls the pain. 

 Think ahead to Wozzeck, where the anti-hero tries to do his best, but is destroyed by the cycle of madness around him. Can we hear in the cyclic traverses of Wozzeck, echoes of the marches in Des Knaben Wunderhorn and the repetitions in Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt ? Maybe, maybe not, but that should start you thinking. DKW and Georg Büchner's Woyzeck come from a similar vein in the Romantic Imagination. 

Furthermore, consider Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt in the context of Mahler's Symphony no 2. The long first movement may represent a funeral march, taken at a steady processional pace. From that the Ländler breezes serve a a Ruckblick on  a happy past, which will inevitably be left behind. In the third movement,  marked "In ruhig fließender Bewegung" come the references to the world of Des Knaben Wunderhorn.  The departed may be dead, physically, but Nature is working its miracles. The "Fischpredigt" passage begins with a  bang, the quirky woodwind melody leaping energetically, the strings surging with energized power.  The sermon is over, but that's not a negative thing. Now, we can move forward.  The music moves like the fish, disciples of the power of Nature to regenerate itself. Even at this point, we can think of Der Abschied, "Ewig, ewig.....".  In this context, the Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt represent transformational change, as well as the wilfulness of fish who don't change their ways. 

Hence the danger of interpreting this song too narrowly and too literally. Please also read my article "Why greedy kids in Mahler 4"  Understand and absorb the spirit of Des Knaben Wunderhorn : it's a key into Mahler's inner world.
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Simon Rattle Berlin Philharmonic Mahler 2 London

Simon Rattle has been conducting Mahler's Second Symphony since he was a teenager. He's conducted it with the Berliner Philharmoniker many times, also with the same opener, Helmut Lachenmann's Tableau for Orchestra, and also with the same soloists (photo above was taken at the Philharmonie in Berlin).  Yet Rattle and the Berliners are so good that they can make even the familiar sound fresh and spontaneous. Nothing routine about this performance!  (Available here in audio for 28 days.) If it's possible to imagine Mahler 2 performed en fête, this was it. The players were relaxed, yet energized, clearly enjoying their second London residence in a few years, eager to share their love for the symphony with a new audience. And "celebration" is absolutely a valid interpretation of Mahler. The symphony isn't titled "The Resurrection" for nothing.

The Allegro Maestoso is marked "mit durchaus_ernstem_und_feierlichem_Ausdruck" for it was inspired by the funeral of Hans von Bülow, Mahler's mentor.  But it begins with a great burst of energy:  gravity doesn't preclude fervour. Many years ago, I heard Bernard Haitink conduct this movement with tempi so slow that his players struggled to maintain a line. It felt as if the body were gradually switching off and shutting down. It was terrifying. I could hardly draw breath. Rattle's tempi weren't so extreme, but he observed the sense of deliberation. This is a march, but with a purposeful destination. For many of us who love Mahler, the excitement in his music comes, not from rabble-rousing rush, but from this sense of intelligence. Hence the importance of  observing detail, marking each stage of the descent: the pastoral passages suggesting memory, the quiet pizzicato "footsteps" that scurry forwards, the horn calls that introduced the sudden, spiralling denoument.

Thus were we prepared for the warm breezes of the second movement, (particularly lustrous harp playing). and the third, marked "In ruhig fließender Bewegung" with its references to the world of Des Knaben Wunderhorn.  The departed may be dead, physically, but Nature is working its miracles. The "Fischpredigt" passage began with a  bang, the quirky woodwind melody leaping energetically, the strings surging with energized power. From this emerged the Urlicht.  Magdalena Kožená is better in this part than she gets credit for, because the honesty in her singing was truly "aber schlicht", pure, like the elusive violin part around the voice, so, when the music explodes in the last movement, we appreciate the contrast. Splendid, full-sounding strings, then the magic of the offstage trumpet, suggesting heaven: a true piece of theatre on Mahler's part, but filled with metaphysical meaning. Tiny, delicate pizzicato lead to soaring passages which suggest panoramic vistas, the "mountains" of Mahler's Third Symphony which Rattle and the Berliners do so well (read more here).  Then the cataclysmic "earthquake " which suggests Messiaen  Et exspecto resurrection mortuorum, another Rattle/Berlin Phil favourite (read more here). Wilder and wilder, as if purgatory itself were being ripped apart. Exquisite winds and strings - what else would one expect from the Berliners  The LSO and CBSO choruses intoned softly, like penitents in procession, over which rose Kožená and Kate Royal's voices.

As Mahler wrote of the finale “what happens now is far from expected: no divine judgement, no blessed and no damned, no Good and no Evil, and no judge”. And “there is no judgement, no just men, no punishment and no reward….. just a feeling of love which illuminates and fills us with blissful knowledge of all existence”. So what if this wasn't the most divine, most ideal performance? It was a great experience.

The BBC is marking Simon Rattle's 60th birthday in a big way. Most of the concerts in this London residency are being broadcast, audio on BBC Radio 3 (here) and some on BBC TV I-player (here) .   Although I've written about the Mahler concert, the Sibelius concert are even better.  Be cautious with the documentary about Rattle and his career (here), which comes over like an advertisement, surprisingly amateur for an occasion as high profle as this. Talking heads filmed in pseudo vox pop style, not once but twice! Technical naffness aside, the subject himself is fascinating, so fast forward past the first 25 minutes.

Rattle Sibelius Barbican LIVE plus Conductor Chess

Simon Rattle at the Barbican this week, conducting the Brerlin Philharmonic in all the Sibelius symphonies.  Tickets sold out almost as soon as they went on sale. Luckily, the concerts  will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 HERE HERE and HERE.  Rattle has been conducting Sibelius since early days at the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. He's good. With the  Berliners, he has an orchestra that did Sibelius with Karajan.  Enjoy! This is what the BBC does well and best. Long may this commitment to quality outlast current fashion. You can also listen to Rattle and the band doing Sibelius on the Berliner Philharmoniker Digital Concert Hall.

On Saturday night, Rattle and the Berliners  do Mahler Symphony no 2 and Helmut Lachenmann's spectacular Tableau,  "a short, intense work which uses a huge conventional orchestra to unconventional ends. It's a perfect foil to the Mahler, a typical Rattle juxtaposition designed to make an audience sit up and think."  You bet!  This will also be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 HERE. 

Rattle  was the wildly charismatic whizz who turned the CBSO from a small-town band to one of the great orchestras in this country. The CBSO has aince become a springboard for Sakari Oramo and for Andris Nelsons, Edward Garner regularly works there too. What the Berliners needed when they chose Rattle in 2002 was a man who could develop the orchestra's profile. Obviously it was a superlative orchestra, and still is, but Rattle opened things out in other directions, helping to usher in the Berliner Philharmoniker we have today, with its international focus and adventurous programming.  There's a lot more to conducting than waving a stick.

After the Berliner Philharmoniker, there are no further peaks to conquer. Rumour has it that Rattle will take over at the Londoin Symphony Orchestra, where he's much loved. The band isn't as stellar as the band in Berlin, but Rattle's job would be to grow the LSO and the Barbican. In a way, back to his roots. Speaking of roots, the photo shows Rattle when his hair was dark - that's a natural Afro!

This week Alan Gilbert suddenly announced that he'll quit the New York Philharmonic. I don't know the inside story and I won't make wild guesses as to who might replace him.  Gilbert has conducted the Berlin Phil almost as many times as Dudamel, who Rattle took on as a protégé right from the start, and is bankable, if not musically demanding.  Soneone's got to pay the bills! Orchestras do not choose chief conductors on a whim. Any really significant orchestra (and its board) has some kind of vision for the future. and looks for a good fit.

Conductor chess is a game of skill, and genuine knowledge. I've discussed the Berlin succession before (follow my label Conductor Chess below and on the right)  Always, always, ask the questions first before speculating on answers. Where does the Berlin Philharmoniker want to go in 10 or 15 years.  Does the NY Phil want to go backwards or forwards.  As for Alan Gilbert, I hope he'll return to Europe  where his musical interests seem to lie.  There are huge differences between the US and Europe in terms of music, culture and audiences. Europe is the biggest pond of all, in which the biggest fish swim. That said, I don't think Gilbert will get Berlin, but there are other jobs coming up soon.

Triumphant Mahler 2 Harding Prom 57

Triumphant! An exceptionally stimulating Mahler Symphony No 2 from Daniel Harding and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, BBC Prom 57 at the Royal Albert Hall.  Harding's Mahler Tenth performances (especially with the Berliner Philharmoniker, read more HERE) are pretty much the benchmark by which all other performances are assessed.  Harding's Mahler Second is informed by such an intuitive insight into the whole traverse of the composer's work that, should he get around to doing all ten together, he'll fulfil the long-held dream of "One Grand Symphony", all ten symphonies understood as a coherent progression of developing ideas.

Pierre Boulez used to speak about the importance of trajectory, that is, the sense of direction that drives a symphony. Even the first bars zinged with purpose: Harding setting the trajectory in motion right from the start. When Bernard Haitink conducted this symphony at the Proms in 2006, he chose tempi so slow that it was hard for his orchestra to sustain the line, suggesting the approach of death.  Harding's tempi are less extreme, but equally purposeful.  He emphasized the inherent  tension between forward-reaching  lines and tight staccato, suggesting  that a powerful transformation is underway even in the presence of annihilation. Harding showed how Mahler's themes of transcendance and renewal were in place even at this point in his career.  The tension Harding creates suggests the power of what is to come, even when it's curtailed, temporarily, by death. If this is a funeral procession, it operates on many levels. The pastoral woodwinds might suggest happy memories of the past.  Quiet, purposeful pizzicato, like footsteps, lead into savage brass climaxes, creating the sense of hard-won stages on a difficult ascent. Perhaps we can already hear the "mountains" in Mahler's Third Symphony, rising ever upwards.

 Then the sudden, anguished descent into silence. The Luftpause which follows is very much part of meaning, "inaudible music" during which one might contemplate the finality of death. Harding sat on a chair, head bowed. Instead, the Royal Albert Hall ushers let in dozens of latecomers, totally destroying the moment of reverence. Someone needs to tell the staff that Luftpauses are not intervals.

The second movement  began with gleeful energy, leading into lyrical Ländler themes, which will recur again through many symphonies to come. Although this movement is marked "Nicht eilen", it should be leisurely rather than slow, for something positive is stirring. Perhaps we begin to hear the Pan theme for Mahler's Third, as summer marches in. Harding took particular care to bring out the life force in the third movement, Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt, an illustration of which stands in Mahler's composer hut.  Like Dionysius, St Anthony is drunk. Perhaps the song is used to indicate the futility of words, which is rather droll, since in this symphony Mahler begins to use voice as part of his orchestral toolbox.  Harding might be more taken with the inherent energy in the leaping figures which suggest the movement of fish, leaping upwards, and swimming away. Exuberant playing here, the passages undertaken with great agility.

Perhaps it's included to illustrate the futility of words, but the liveliness of the writing suggests energy and escape from the sombre mood of the first movement. Harding led his orchestra into a glorious climax: summer is marching in, underlined yet again by the exuberant Fischpredigt allusion to leaping fish. 

 Excellent use of offstage trumpets and trombones, even if some sounds went slightly awry. These sections aren't merely for show, since they illustrate cosmological meaning. Harding's musicians may have to run up and down a lot, but by doing so they literally connect earthly reality with the promise of Heaven. This isn't the "Resurrection" symphony for nothing.  Angels blow horns and trumpets, as do Alpine herdsmen and farmers. Mahler's making connections on all levels. Very possibly, we might think ahead to Mahler's Fourth with its cataclysmic burst of energy. What thrust Harding got from his players, trumpets leading! Processional footseps yet again, this time confident and assured. Having shown us how near we are to the summit, Harding and his orchestra descended once more into quiet reverence. The trumpet solo, calling from the highest reaches oif the Royal Albert Hall, seemed to glow forever, like a sunset. The hushed voices of the Swedish Radio Choir and the Philharmonia Chorus were so well blended that their impact was enhanced: an image of vast panoramas and repose, from which Christianne Stotijn's voice rose with dignity. 

Aufersteh'n, ja aufersteh'n wirst du, Mein Staub, nach kurzer Ruh!  Stotijn, Kate Royal, the choruses and orchestra united in a blaze of glorious sound. Crashing cymbals, the klang of metal on metal and a thunderous timpani roll cut short much too soon by an audience too excited to hold back any longer.

Please see my other posts on Mahler, especially Mahler 3 and also my many posts on the BBC Proms

MILESTONE NEW SET Mahler recordings 1903-40

At last, probably the definitve set of recordings of the music of Gustav Mahler from issued 78's between 1903 and 1940. Although some of these recordings have been known for some time, this new 8 CD set from Urlicht Audio-Visual is a collectors item because it's so beautifully put together. 

This is the most comprehensive collection ever assembled, including every recording listed in Peter Fulop's Mahler Discograhy. The booklet, with notes by Sybille Werner and Gene Gaudette, is a work of scholarship. It evolved from Werner's research with Henry-Louis de La Grange into the reception of Mahler's music in this period, which proved that the composer's music was heard more often than previously assumed. 

Werner and Gaudette's notes for this set contain the most comprehensive description of the world of recording in this era, and the people involved. They explain the odd sound balance on the first acoustic recording, Ein Mädchen verloren (from Die Drei Pintos) by Leopold Demuth in 1903: the baritone has to shout into the horn of the recording machine. This sort of insight informs the way we listen to performance practice. Read her analysis of Oskar Fried's portamento and "surprisingly steady tempo" in his pioneer recording of Mahler's Symphony no 2 in 1924, one of the first full orchestra recordings made possible by new electrical technology. This was one of the last major acoustic recordings made by Polydor. Had they only waited about a year!  Fried knew Mahler personally, as did Willem Mengelberg,  whose 1926 Adagietto from Mahler's Symphony no 5 is included, but it would be wrong to deduce how Mahler himself might have conducted. This is also an opportunity to compare Mengelberg's Adagietto with Bruno Walter's, made in Vienna in January 1938.

Some of these recordings are well known, such as Jascha Horenstein's 1928 Kindertotenlieder with Heinrich Rehkemper, which Benjamin Britten played incessantly. But Mahler enthusiasts will treasure this new set because the transfers are new, and made by the best people in the business, Ward Marston and Mark Obert-Thorn. You can hear the difference. Surface noise is reduced and the music shines more clearly. Hidemaro Konoye's pioneer recording of Mahler's Symphony no 4,  plagued by poor sound quality, now shows why Konoye was involved with Franz Schreker, Richard Strauss, Fürtwangler and Erich Kleiber. Marston and Obert-Thorn used originals in their own collections and also from a number of extremely scarce discs that were lent from the collections of Raymond J Edwards Jr, Nathan Brown and Charles Niss. The transfer of Mahler's Symphony no 1 ((Mitropoulos, Minnesota Symphony Orchestra), was provided by Charles Martin. 

Great classics like Bruno Walter's Das Lied von der Erde (Kerstin Thorberg, Charles Kullmann) are on this set, in cleaner sound, but also relative rarities like  a 1928 potpourri of Das Lied von der Erde (Dol Dauber Salonorchester, Wien), and Um Mitternacht transcribed for voice and organ, recorded in Central Hall, Westminster, London, in the same year. These ventures may suggest that attitudes to music were different to today. That's why we need to know the archaeology of musical performance. There are no rigid rules. Styles change, just like accents in speech change. These recordings were made when Mahler was "new music". But all good performance approaches the score in an original way and makes the music feel new. 

This Urlicht Audio Visual set, Gustav Mahler issued 78's 1903-1940 is a milestone, an essential reference work for anyone interested in Mahler and in perfomance history. The transfers superede earlier versions, and Sybille Werner's notes are unique. Click on the link at thes beginning of this paragraph to purchase. The set has been compiled not by anonymous mega business, but real Mahler enthusiasts who care passionately about what they are doing. They deserve our support.

Sunshine Mahler Resurrection? Jansons Prom 35

Mahler in the sunshine? Mariss Jansons conducted Mahler's Symphony no 2, BBC Prom 35 with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Jansons has a devoted following because he's good. But he's also not the most incisive or challenging interpreter of Mahler's quirky genius. On the other hand the Mahler anniversary year changed the way Mahler's music is heard.  Whole new audiences have come to Mahler through celebrity performances like those at the South Bank. Lorin Maazel triumphs! At long last he's made his mark. Jansons was an established Mahler conductor long before the anniversary year, but he's gold standard compared with some of the entry-level pap we've been fed – books and commentary as well as concerts.

"I do not like this", a friend emailed me."It makes me feel like Die Walküre converted to Christianity"

A brilliantly perceptive line!  Although Mahler did convert to Christianity, he wasn't a cynical or calculating person. An element of genuinely sincere interest in Christianity runs throughout his music, far more deeply than ever gets credited. But fundamentally, Mahler does his own thing. If Wagner could mess around with theology, Mahler wasn't under any obligation to stick to strict  liturgy. Jansons' Mahler 2, however, takes religiosity at face value. Of course one will respond, as millions have done for centuries, because religion appeals to something in the human spirit, whether or not one truly believes. 

"He turns that trembling opening theme into powerful light like Wagner, but admits much less noise", my friend added. Of course the Urlicht theme pervades the symphony but it makes its full impact when approached gradually. The symphony unfolds like a procession, a pilgrimage towards a goal that''s so great it can't be grasped without a penitential journey beforehand.  Without death, there is no Resurrection.

So much has been written about Mahler's struggles writing this piece that I don't need to repeat it. But imagine how Mahler felt at the funeral of Hans von Bülow a man he identified with. Once Haitink conducted the long Allegro maestoso at such slow tempi that the orchestra had trouble sustaining their lines. But he was making a valid point. We were in  the presence of a stillness like death, the music barely ticking over, as if in the final stages of coma. 

Jansons was good, however, at the summery Ländler images in the second movement. Their place in the symphony serves as a Rückblick, a glance backwards, but it's not nostalgic so much as poignant, for they can never be regained. Better to hear them expressed with pain and regret than as diversion. This symphony can throb with fear. "Der Mensch liegt in größter Pein!". When the contralto sings it can feel like a primal scream, even a suggestion of the pain of childbirth, because the song represents a new stage in the traverse. Gerhild Romberger took her cue, as she should, from the conductor. Nice singing, but little anguish. The choir awakened, as if they'd been "snoozing in the Bavarian sunshine", as my friend commented. Genia Kühmeier's "Aufersteh'n" was bright and shiny, but for maximum impact it should have risen from an hour and a half of darkness. Christians know there will be Life Everlasting, but they also know Purgartory comes first. As Wagner told us, we have first to be cleansed by fire.

Most people would have enjoyed Jansons' Mahler 2. It was certainly bright and glossy, and technically very well performed, if a straightforward interpretation. Mahler is never boring, and the whole premise of the symphony is that it's uplifting. But where does that "Primeval Light" come from? Note the terminology. Wherever this Light is coming from, it comes from a mysterious source possibly even greater than notions of formal religion. But I wish Jansons had addressed it with more reverence.

Dudamel's Mahler Prom 29 - why?

So people queued round the block for Gustavo Dudamel's Mahler Second Symphony, BBC Prom 29, and no doubt they had fun when they got in. But why? Hardly had the Prom ended and my mailbox started filling with exasperated comments. That's not news, though it might be to some. What is news is the Dudamel Phenomenom, how it came about and where it might be going. 

The media work overtime whipping up hype. But does anyone actually listen to the music? As I've said before, I don't take potshots at easy targets. The Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra deserves respect because of what they've come from and achieved against the odds. It was genuinely heart warming to see their faces shine with enthusiasm. That's something they can always be proud of, and good for them. But there are worthy orchestras everywhere, even in places like Kinshasa,in the Congo, which is much poorer than Venezuela. The SBSO are not "international circuit" quality but they deserve appreciation for who they are.

Dudamel, on the other hand, left them behind long ago, in terms of success and exposure, even though he still conducts them in between his big money gigs with LA, Berlin etc. That's good because it shows he remembers his roots. But at this stage in his career, he can't rely any more on the emotive appeal of El Sistema and youthful antics like waving flags.

In 2004, Dudamel won the Bamberg Conducting Competition. That was its first year, and it didn't attract the attention it gets now, but winning Bamberg led to a huge recording contract. When Big Money invests in someone, they control the strings. My friends and I quite liked the 2004 Dudamel as he was fresh and promising  Rattle and Abbado were great supporters, since both of them have a huge committment to supporting young musicians. Dudamel's London performances didn't raise a ripple (Andrew Clements reviewed one) but that's OK. Then, Lucerne. Tom Service gets flown over to Swittzerland and writes an ecstatic interview. Come the next London concert, mass hysteria. Then the 2007 BBC Prom and the rest is history.

How the snowball rolled is fascinating. Dudamel may or may not be the first Youtube discovery, but thousands of people all over the world heard short clips and told their friends. People who might never have listened to  a full concert suddenly discovered classical music. Which again, is a Good Thing, if they continue to listen and learn.  But it isn't necessarily good for music. The following year when Dudamel conducted Berlioz Symphonie fantastique someone on a discussion board, claiming to be a music professor, declared "This is how it should be played" though admitted he'd never heard the piece before, which is a little odd for a music professor. Doesn't say much for some of the "fans".

What excites that kind of audience isn't musicianship but showmanship. Nothing wrong with showmanship per se. Where would Paganini, Chopin etc have been without showmanship? Arguably, pianists and other soloists need flair to make an impact. Conductors, too - think Bernstein and Gergiev. But good solid musicianship should underpin any display. That's the challenge Dudamel has to face now. Maybe he can see through the hype and develop himself critically. But maybe audiences want persona more than substance. Maybe they want to roar. It's normal human behaviour to go with the crowd.  It might be a lot of fun in a place like the Royal Albert Hall when everyone's adrenalin is high, but that's not necessarily the best way to evaluate performance.

Dudamel has to deliver what the audience demand, whether or not they know or care much about the repertoire.  Maybe his job involves playing to the audience, but it should primarily be based on playing the music. And audiences need to think about what they're responding to - atmosphere, the innate quality of the music being played, actual performance standards and the emotional effect of publicity. Mahler eludes some very good conductors indeed, but he's so ubiquitous now and often so badly played that it's hardly surprising that audiences don't mind. I watched the BBC TV broadcast of Prom 29 but came away overwhelmingly depressed. Someone told me that after an earlier Dudamel Prom he felt like a secret dissident at a mass rally. But for me, it feels like tragedy, to hear what media frenzy can do to a musician.

PLEASE read the comments below. This debate isn't about Dudamel but about the way we can be manipulated by the media, (both press and social media). If a performance "needs" to be heard in a mass rally situation, the appeal isn't necessarily musical. After more than 40 years of listening to Mahler I listen to performance as music and don't need mass frenzy to influence me.

Schoenberg conducts Mahler - rarity

This popped up in my youtube subscriptions last week but I've been much too busy, so AT LAST! Schoenberg conducts Mahler 2/2 with the Cadillac Symphony in Los Angeles in 1934. The occasion isn't mentioned in Stuckenschmidt's extensive biography though there's a brief mention of Schoenberg doing a number of one-off radio broadcasts at the time. Whether he did the full symphony or just one movement (not unknown practice then) I don't know, but fortunately this fragment was recorded.
Please also see the many other composer conducting composer clips I have on this site - Mahler playing Mahler on piano rolls, for example, Grieg playing Grieg, Debussy playing Debussy, even Webern conducts Schubert. (use search box at right)

Gloucester 2010 - 3 Choirs Festival

Gloucester 2010, the hip new tag for the 3 Choirs Festival, which started in 1719. The longest-running music festival in the world!  It began as a meeting of the choirs of the cathedrals of Gloucester, Hereford and Worcester.and has shaped the course of English music. The massed choir tradition, the genteel propriety, the jolly unassuming mentality, all these threads flow from the 3 Choirs ethos.

The photo shows the fan vaulting in Gloucester Cathedral. There's plenty to look at too. Indeed churches are best seen at night, when shadows and light accentuate the stonework.

Every year, 3 Choirs opens with a church service, because piety is fundamental to the 3 Choirs purpose, though it's genuine piety, they don't force it on anyone else. This is the Holy Grail of religious singing. Try and catch the Complines, Evensongs, and Eucharists, because these are authentic, sung by people who believe. For people like me it's a kind of secular worship, but for many 3 Choirs people, it's central to their lives.

Elgar, of course, was a Catholic, at a time when Catholicism certainly wasn't Establishment, but 3 Choirs was part of his life, as he himself is central to the 3 Choirs Festival. This year The Kingdom on 7th August. This piece suffers sloppy performance, so avoid most "local" versions and go for the ultimate best, which is 3 Choirs. This will be spectacular, as they pull out all the stops for Elgar. Soloists are Roderick Williams, Adrian Thompson, Susan Gritton, Pamela Helen Stephen.  I'm sitting behind stage and choirs to be "within" the atmosphere.

Sunday of course is one of the big social days, with religious services as music, and hearty roast lunch. Oddly enough the big evening concert is Mahler 2, obviously chosen for the massed voices parts.  Of course M2 is spiritual, but fundamentally Mahler's mindset is too quirky to really fit group worship. Besides Evensong will be Finzi, Lo, the Full Final Sacrifice, which should be wonderful.

Gloucester 2010 will be important too because they're featuring early music in-depth. The Pipe and Tabor Society is hosting several events, Venetian and Renaissance and early English music, including a talk on one of the earliest notated carols, with origins in Gloucester itself.

Because I left it too late, I can't get to Ian Venables' talk on the orchestral music of Ivor Gurney - front line, first person research, as Venables, a good composer in his own right, is a Gurney devotee. Frustrating as anything, because it follows the Gurney Society Lunch, where all the serious fans will be. After that, a concert where Gurney's A Gloucestershire Rhapsody, Mendelssohn "Scottish" and Schumann Piano Concerto . Martyn Brabbins conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra. In London this would be a big draw,  yet here it's just one of many gems. In the evening, Monteverdi L'Orfeo.

Pity they didn't switch Monteverdi with the concert on Fri 13th which includes Gurney's rarely heard The Trumpet, and Finzi's Intimations of Immortality, with James Gilchrist, who sings it better than anyone else.  But maybe that's because the concert includes Elgar's Sea Pictures and it's Elgar Day, with talks, and the Elgar Society Lunch (important social event).

Many people who go to 3 Choirs stay the whole time, so mix and match is a good idea, but for others, it's a long drive, so concentrating connected works is better for them. For example, I'd love to go to the Roderick Williams concert on Saturday morning, but it will mean staying overnight, which is pricey. He's singing Finzi, Butterworth, Gurney, Venables and Moeran. He's just recorded a Butterworth CD with the Sussex songs. I'm looking forward to that, even though I loved Mark Stone's pioneer recording.

3 Choirs is a must if you've any interest in English music, medieval to modern. Hearing lesser known composers like Joubert (who isn't "that" lesser known, Gilchrist has recorded his songs) at 3 Choirs puts their work into context. Those who go to 3 Choirs for the whole week and soak up the social side and history know what they're doing.

This year, 3 Choirs introduces massive technological revolution - online booking for the first time! Yow! The bad news is that it's bug ridden, and no doubt they'll streamline it for next year. But it's a step in the right direction. Still, the fact that the system's so clumsy is actually quite charming, and says a lot about the innocence of 3 Choirs, which is a good thing. You can get a whiff of the old system when you hear the recorded message on the phone. Miss Marple, tweed suits, sensible virgins cycling to church through country lanes etc. .That England still does exist, so savour it while you can. PLEASE READ my more detailed reviews and articles on Gurney, Parry, Finzi, Elgar Butterworth and 3 Choirs. Use search or labels at right

Christoph Eschenbach Mahler - FULL streaming cycle

At last, a truly superb tribute to Gustav Mahler! Christoph Eschenbach is presenting a cycle of the symphonies for free video and audio download on his site HERE.  "Each symphony was recorded with the Orchestre de Paris under the direction of Christoph Eschenbach and filmed by the director François Goetghebeur. By October 15th, 2010 the complete symphonies will be online for streaming and remain accessible until at least July 2011"

This series was developed over many years. I've been to several Eschenbach Mahler performances (not necessarily the same as the ones in these downloads)  It's a very mature, thoughtful cycle that genuinely makes a contribution to a deeper understanding of Mahler's music.  Throughout Mahler's work, there's a powerful sense of trajectory.  Eschenbach's Mahler is intelligent, stressing the architecture of each symphony and its place in the panorama of the whole. With Eschenbach, you feel that you're engaged on a journey, intellectually as well as musically.  Listen to the Second Symphony, already online. It's wonderful, structurally very clearly defined, yet with powerful emotional kick that's hard to put into words. This year there'll be much flash-in-the-pan Mahler, but this Eschenbach/Paris series is outstanding. When these are released for sale, they'll be collectors' items. For now, Eschenbach's making them available for free.
photo credit: Eric Brissaud 

Hoho! I've got excellent tickets to the Proms Mahler 8!

Jurowski Mahler 2 - some thoughts

Several of my friends attended the Mahler Second Symphony concerts this weekend conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. We didn't consult, yet nearly all came to similar conclusions. Not that that means a bean because in art "consensus" is irrelevant: what matters is how opinions are reached, not what they are. Much more interesting, then, isn't so much what Jurowski's Mahler was like, but why it is the way it is.

Mahler's 2nd Symphony is failsafe. Everything about it works for a great experience - massed orchestra, massed choir, highly theatrical effects like off-stage trumpets filling the hall from all angles. Can't miss. Jurowski is a very good conductor (if his taste in modern music may be a little odd – and I don't mean the excellent Kurtag Stele performed on Saturday). In some repertoire he's downright wonderful. But not every conductor is able to do the same with all repertoire, any more than any of us can do everything well.

Wisely, perhaps, Jurowski has hitherto skirted around Mahler, conducting smaller, non-final works like Totenfeier, Blumine, the Adagio from the Tenth and only recently the First Symphony. It's not a bad strategy to ease into a composer's idiom gradually, so Jurowski is no fool. It took Barenboim years to get Mahler at all. But the fact is that the Big Anniversary Year 2010-2011 is looming and the commercial pressure to do Mahler is snowballing. Everyone but everyone has to do Mahler to keep up with the market whether or not they have anything to say. It's not a healthy thing, either for musicians or for audiences.

It's probably not a good thing for the composer and his music either. Will he become like the Mozart or Tchaikowsky caricatures, his face decorating chocolate boxes and his music at proms in parks, complete with fireworks?

A great deal was hanging on these concerts, so the South Bank scheduled the symphony over two consecutive nights to meet demand. Jurowski after all conducts the London Philharmonic and they need the high profile showcase for 2010-2011. If Jurowski's Mahler seems a work in progress, in some ways that's better than if he sold out completely and churned out rubbish regardless: others might not hesitate.

It's also interesting to speculate why Jurowski doesn't do great Mahler. It's not emotional. There are lots of different kinds of emotion, not all are heart on the sleeve. Bernstein's Mahler is being cranked out again big time, but his is by no means the only way to do Mahler. As Bernard Haitink said recently, conductors should not treat the composer as "free for all". Quiet, white-hot intellectual and spiritual intensity may not be so easy to "get", compared with Bernstein or Gergiev, but it's emotional too, and perhaps closer to what we know of Mahler.

Perhaps what makes Jurowski good at ballet and opera is what inhibits him in Mahler. These are different genres, different frames of mind. I loved Jurowski's Das klagende Lied in 2007. But Mahler decisively turned away from opera and cantata, and found his own voice in something quite unique. Mahler's song symphonies don't use voices as "characters" or narrative, but as extensions of the orchestral palette. With a few deft words like "Bereite dich!" he can cover specific ideas quite clearly in condensed form. Das klagende Lied is delightful because it's a tale, rather than a deep cosmic exploration. Jurowski in private doesn't lack spirituality - far from it - but he's probably more attuned to a different means of expressing it.