MAHLER THIRD:
RUMINATIVE, RESPLENDENT
With Philiopshy, Angst and Exuberance
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By Paul Hertelendy
artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music
and dance
Week of Sept. 23-30, 2011
Vol. 14, No. 8
One of
Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas’ sly little games is
hide-the-soloist,
which he does better than any one.
When an
orchestral score calls for
an off-stage solo, it’s inevitably some one in the wings. But not at the S.F. Symphony, where the
location is usually a mystery, popping up anywhere, like a nocturnal
behind-the-lines
scout for an army unit.
For the
Beethoven “Leonore No.3” a
week ago, the trumpet of salvation came from high in the
balcony---first
distantly, then much closer and louder.
For the Mahler
Third Symphony ,
there was a set of chimes tucked away in
a corner of the choral seats, and also a trumpeter (Mark Inouye)
nowhere
to be seen, evidently squirreled away behind singers & patrons in
the
terrace behind the orchestra. It made for brilliant theater for the
long (more
than three minutes’) solo, for which
Inouye
later garnered a thunderous ovation from the large crowd.
It all makes
for effective theater,
coming surprisingly from a conductor with no theater/opera experience
at all to
speak of. But MTT makes up for it in many many ways.
He could not
make up for all the
cerebral ruminations of this longest symphony--------just 12 minutes
short of
two hours, when heard Sept. 22----but he made it into a moving
testament, as if
these had been Mahler’s swan-song reflections on existence, with slices
of
Nietsche and German poetry vocalized. (In fact, Mahler had another
seven and a
fraction MORE symphonies up his sleeve to compose before his untimely
death in
1911.)
Somehow it was
particularly apt to
perform this colossal enigma called the Third with the dawn of autumn,
with the
world and weather in transition. The autumnal quality of the magnum
opus for
large orchestra was unmistakable, vacillating through many emotions,
perspectives
and musical temperatures, both hot and cold. There is an assertive Part
One in
minor key, then major, a vast tapestry
with oversize brass section, and TWO timpanists. Later, a ländler
(charming
country forerunner of a waltz). And notable instrumental solos, neatly
done by
Inouye, Jeremy Constant (violin), William Bennett (oboe) and certainly
Timothy
Higgins (trombone).
After an hour, vocalists pop up,
with contrasting messages: A lament of woe (sung dutifully by mezzo
Katarina
Karnéus), then an outburst of New-Testament exuberance, with
100-plus female
voices young and old.
But the
crowning segment is the
beautifully harmonized closing Adagio, exquisitely played, affectionate
enough
to melt an iceberg. The orchestra was in rare form, pulling their load
and then
some at MTT’s behest. The group has never sounded better and more
committed.
Worth
mentioning is the supreme
discipline of the S.F. Girls Chorus, some 55 strong, memorizing the
score along
with some 25 lines of German text. Bravo!
CANCELATION---With conductor Fabio Luisi taking over the incapacitated
James Levine's work at the Metropolitan Opera this fall, he has
canceled the gust slot at the SFS doing Verdi's Requiem Oct. 19-22,
replaced by James Conlon of the L.A. Opera.
These
San Francisco Symphony concerts continue through Sept. 25 at 2 p.m. For
info: (415) 864-6000, or go online.
Broadcasts on KDFC-FM (102.1) at 8 p.m. on the second Tuesday following.
©Paul Hertelendy 2011
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Paul Hertelendy has been
covering
the dance and modern-music scene in the San Francisco Bay Area with
relish
-- and a certain amount of salsa -- for years.
These critiques appearing weekly (or sometimes semi-weekly, but never
weakly)
will focus on dance and new musical creativity in performance, with
forays
into books (by authors of the region), theater and recordings by local
artists as well.
#
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