It’s time for Mahler, right now
NewsIt is almost three years since I last heard a Mahler symphony in a concert hall.
After the lifting of Covid restrictions, I did not rush back to Mahler. Too many distractions lingered from the lockdown. Too few of the performances on offer seemed quintessential. Some musicians I spoke to were unsure if music on this scale was right for this moment.
But today’s the day.
The country is in disarray, shambling along from one bad government to the next. The world situation is fragile. A cold winter is drawing in. In the street I see confusion spread across worried faces.
That’s when Mahler becomes emergency treatment.
I shall report later on the Symphony of A Thousand from the Royal Albert Hall.
Amen. Question: the resolution of the photo accompanying this piece is so low that I cannot tell who is standing before the orchestra. Seems too tall to be Mahler himself, but perhaps I’m wrong. Norman, could you please help?
Stokowski, Philadelphia 1916
Ah! Thank you
The first U.S. performance of the Mahler 8th, yes ?
yes
You could have gone to the Proms….Mahler 2,LSO under Rattle,300 people onstage,5000 in the audience….Quite unforgettable moment.
Any of the chorus masked?. Philadelphia wants to know.
We also heard 1 and 7 during this season’s proms so we were very well catered for…
Mahler 8 live was one of the first items I was lucky enough to scratch off my bucket list. A transcendent and unforgettable experience by the Boston Symphony under Ozawa at Tanglewood. Hope you enjoy.
“I have some problems with the symphonies […] Sometimes for ten minutes of paradise, you have twenty minutes of—well, something else, I don’t know what. […] there are always so many young conductors who do Mahler because the loud finales will always get you lots of applause.” (Riccardo Muti)
https://music.newcity.com/2015/09/15/offbeat-muti-makes-a-gift-of-mahler-to-the-entire-city/
I’ve got to agree with Muti.
Over this weekend Nelsons and the Boston Symphony have performed the Sixth in Symhony Hall Boston (what better place?) three times. On Friday afternoon I heard a glorious, very moving performance, in a venue whose crystal-clear, yet warm acoustics, make it seem like this is the only possible place to do this piece justice. The orchestra included 10 double basses and many other extra musicians. I was so caught up in the beauty and terror or the music that I did not think that this may have been the first time in several years that the piece was performed before an audience
Perform the Mahler Second backwards in the manner of Relham Vatsug. Maybe the effect will be magically returning England to before the ridiculous Brexit idea.
The Philharmonia did Mahler 1 at the Royal Festival Hall in September with Santtu – wonderful!
Just seen it, absolutely unforgettable, heart wrenching and uplifting.
I was there this afternoon, after booking tickets about 3 years ago when I could still afford a pint and occasional Central heating, and knew the answer to the question “who’s the Prime Minister?”.
It was fantastic to be there, almost a resurrection after I thought it might never happen.
Good performance too!
Spotted you in the distance and hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
It was indeed very necessary to put things in perspective!
Saw it at the Usher Hall, Edinburgh, in the mid 80s. I was whistling away in Lothian Road when a group of elegantly dressed ladies in ball gowns said, “He’s whistling our tune!”
Enjoy dear Norman.
It’s balm for the soul.
Within the last nine months, the S.F. Symphony has given three very high caliber performances of Mahler: Symphony #5 with Dudamel (he does a very good M5), M7 with Tilson-Thomas (the best one I’ve heard him give), and a knock-out M2 “Resurrection” with E-P. Salonen. We’re spoiled for Mahler in S.F., but it is nice to get other people’s perspectives on Mahler than just MTT’s. That wasn’t permitted for several decades, I’m afraid (one had go to Berkeley). Robin Ticciati will conduct M4 in January – someone whom I know next to nothing about.
I was lucky enough to be there yesterday – a friend gave me his ticket as he was unable to go! It was in the third row and I could almost have shaken hands with the soloists and conductor.
It was thrilling from beginning to end and received a huge and prolonged standing ovation. As I left, I recalled all those prognostications about classical music (on SD and elsewhere) having had its day, falling audiences, lack of interest, behind the times – what nonsense. Works like this still have a message for the current generation – and as long as they can pack the Albert Hall and other venues, all’s well.
This experience was particularly apposite as a life-affirming oasis in the currently arid, gloom-laden world. That’s what most of Mahler is about, isn’t it?
I have just seen a review on the Guardian website. After praising all the performers, the reviewer concludes that the performance was uninvolving and fault is with Mahler. Whom would you rather believe – five thousand people clapping, cheering and roaring their approval or a jaded journalist who gets paid for his pseudo-intellectual ramblings? If he doesn’t like the work, why on earth did he spend 80 minutes of his life listening to it and what is he doing writing a review of it? Would you send Kier Starmer as a correspondent to cover the Conservative Party Conference? Or Boris Johnson to cover the Labour one?
The last time I heard Mahler’s 8th, it was with an ad hoc orchestra and fine soloists, conducted by Wyn Morris. That was almost exactly 50 years ago. The deal was that if you bought a ticket, you would receive a recording of it afterwards. It too was a stunning performance and the recording (vinyl, of course) is still on my shelves.