Lachenmann and Mahler, 14 Feb

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

What? 'Pearls before swine'?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-_PuCrsT9Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOqblSqx_VI

[Petrushka]

I shall be in the Royal Festival Hall for this concert and I'm very excited! I've heard Rattle in Mahler 2 three times, I think, but not with the Berliners so looking forward to the concert with the keenest anticipation.

Don't expect a concert report from me, though, as I'll only have my phone with me and not back behind the laptop until Sunday evening!

[pastoralguy]

I shall be in the Royal Festival Hall for this concert and I'm very excited! I've Rattle in Mahler 2 three times, I think, but not with the Berliners so looking forward to the concert with the keenest anticipation.

Don't expect a concert report from me, though, as I'll only have my phone with me and not back behind the laptop until Sunday evening!

I really hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed last night, Petrushka.

[teamsaint]

I shall be in the Royal Festival Hall for this concert and I'm very excited! I've Rattle in Mahler 2 three times, I think, but not with the Berliners so looking forward to the concert with the keenest anticipation.

Don't expect a concert report from me, though, as I'll only have my phone with me and not back behind the laptop until Sunday evening!

Have a brilliant weekend , Pet. I'm sure it will live up to your expectations.....and I'm sure you will have plenty to write about when you get back.

[tigajen]

Hmm. Which is more important? (Documentary only clashes with Radio 3, doesn't it? So doesn't really matter ...)

Documentary on at 11.40 on BBC2 Wales (Freeview CH 2),so no problem here

[kernelbogey]

It sounded wonderful to me on Radio Three - dare I say a perfect perfomance? Not listening on the best of equipment here so I wait to be corrected....

Has Rattle recorded this with the Berliners? I have his recording with (I think) the Birmingham SO, but can't find it just now.

Looking forward to comments from the Hall.

[Flosshilde]

Yes, wonderful. The last movement must be the most sublime piece of music.

But - did I hear a faint 'boo' when Magdalena Kozená took her bow?

[kernelbogey]

Yes, wonderful. The last movement must be the most sublime piece of music.

But - did I hear a faint 'boo' when Magdalena Kozená took her bow?

I heard that too, but couldn't tell that it was for her. I didn't hear a slip - jealousy?

I agree this is the most sublime piece of music. I've been looking over the fifth movement words on Wikipedia while they were being sung (although I am quite familiar with them). I wonder whether Mahler's addition to Klopstock is expressing a truly naive belief in an almost physical resurrection: Sterben werd' ich, um zu leben! sounds almost like a conviction of 'dying into life' rather than the child-like belief in Engeln and a resurrected body. Or come to that, in reincarnation.

Just my musings on the words of this wonderful movement.

[teamsaint]

Just back from the hall.I'll post in a bit more detail tomorrrow, but I'm glad you enjoyed it on the broadcast so much ,KB and Floss, because, to my ears it was truly magnificent.
I Won't say more for now, but will try to say what I want to in coherent fashion tomorrow.

[kernelbogey]

to my ears it was truly magnificent....

Oh, so better than Saints v Pompey?

[teamsaint]

Oh, so better than Saints v Pompey?

not better than '84 at Fratton, KB.

Anyhow... a few thoughts

The South bank was abuzz with activity on Saturday, and it wasn’t just the half term “Pirates Day” at the centre, or Valentine’s day couples passing the time before their showing of“ Shades of Grey”. After warming up with Siblius all week, Rattle and his BPO had moved South of the river to play some Mahler.

I won’t go into too much detail, as it’s on iplayer, but some things do come out in the hall that don’t necesssarily transmit over the airwaves.

The Lachenmann worked really well both as a concert opener, and for many of us , I suspect, as an introduction to his music. If you are going to experience something new, ( I only knew the piece that was played at the Proms last year), then nobody better to do it , I suppose. There was lots of fizz, tension, surprise here. What felt like successive and different base layers of sound , with other effects rising up out of them was how the piece felt to me. Definitely things to hold onto and investigate further, here.

A brief pause before the main event.

The very start of the symphony looms large in the listener's thoughts. Will they nail it? And it is important, though not, in the end, as vital as it perhaps seems beforehand. But needless to say, it was powerful , dramatic, nailed.
What a way to be introduced to this orchestra, my first time hearing them. Quality never in doubt of course, but the real test is when he pressure comes, and when the pressure does come , they just keep on giving. That seemed to be the real difference to me.
The Andante I felt was played with an eye to classical lines, rather nicely restrained. Rattle , in line with his reputation (?), left almost no gaps between any of the movements, except the first and second, happily eliminating the opportunities for volleys of coughing, and emphasising connections perhaps?

The Scherzo was beautifully introduced by the timps, and all the elements were as one would wish them.
A moment of real drama with Magdalena Kozena’s appearance. Dressed in a striking pure white dress, her walk on from the side door set her moment up spectatularly. And how she rose to the occasion. A controlled, almost but not quite subdued performance of “ Urlicht”, it was sublime,just a really timeless, and very special moment.

And the finale. Again, really hard to imagine how one might want this better, but a couple of really special moments. The percussion crescendo on timps and various drums was absolutely over whelming, truly spectacular. And the first entrance of the choir was stunning. They gave a wonderful performance, seated for the first part,and then standing for the climax. What a climax it was, mighty and highly skilled forces giving their all….goosebumps all over, for what must have been about the sixth time in the evening.
Ovation was great, if not tumultuous, certainly in the balcony…perhaps too many corporate types there for a true hero's welcome?

The concert is one to live long in this memory, certainly my memory.

Look forward very much to hearing what the experts like Pet and others have to say, and reactions to the broadcast.

[antongould]

Most excellent review as always ts - living as close to the dream, as we poor souls in the shadows of the pit heaps will ever get - on iplayer

[edashtav]

Was Lachenmann too Beautiful - Did it Need More Rawness?

The Lachenmann worked really well both as a concert opener, and for many of us , I suspect, as an introduction to his music. If you are going to experience something new, ( I only knew the piece that was played at the Proms last year), then nobody better to do it , I suppose. There was lots of fizz, tension, surprise here. What felt like successive and different base layers of sound , with other effects rising up out of them was how the piece felt to me. Definitely things to hold onto and investigate further, here.

It was good that ts commented on Lachenmann's "overture", for it's in the nature of concerts centred on a Mahler's symphonies that the hors d'oeuvre slips down unremarked. Tableau was a good foil in many ways : emotionless as Lachenmann remarked in introducing it as opposed to Mahler's score that evokes almost every emotion known to man. Mahler's work, whilst rich in harmony, depends on the supremacy of line and on solo instruments. Lachenmann creates sound objects that are tossed around the stage across different instrumental combinations & with gear changes that alter timbre and spatial impact. Silence plays an important role as punctuation, distinguishing blocks and ending sentences and paragraphs, giving time for reflection.

then nobody better to do it , I suppose, wrote ts. I wonder? Neither the BPO nor Rattle is renowned for loving coarse, crude sounds. I wonder whether this piece of Lachenmann came gifted-wrapped like a Valentine's present? Beauty won, and the beast of Lachemann was banished. Nevertheless, it was good to gain the acquaintance of another piece by one of today's great composers. Just a thought, though, 10 minutes was all it took, surely there was time for a longer starter or a couple of morsels? Mahler's length can result in concertgoers being short-changed.

I quickly tired of the Mahler that followed, wonderful though it was, and switched off after its first movement. - I was more interested in recollecting the Lachenmann!

[JimD]

I quickly tired of the Mahler that followed, wonderful though it was:

Oddly paradoxical.

I am vaguely reminded of Theseus in A Midsummer Night's Dream:

“A tedious brief scene of young Pyramus
And his love Thisbe. Very tragical mirth.”
“Merry” and “tragical”? “Tedious” and “brief”?
That is hot ice and wondrous strange snow.
How shall we find the concord of this discord?

[EdgeleyRob]

Post #26,another marvellous review ts,a great read.
Thing is I can't listen to Mahler these days,although there have been times when I've listened to little else over the years.
Almost as if I can't breathe when listening,not a good description but I can't think of any other way to describe it.
Does anyone else experience this kind of falling out of love with a composer ?