Zander's Mahler Third with the Philharmonia
Erica Jeal, The Guardian, January 21, 2003 "A near perfect rendition of Mahler's Third Symphony"
Posted: 2003-01-21 09:42:01
Mahler's Third Symphony is a colossal work, checking in at around 100 minutes. It is based on the idea of a chain of creation linking everything from the lowliest plant life to the highest spiritual beings. At the Festival Hall it was conducted by Benjamin Zander, who was on his yearly visit from the US to the Philharmonia - and those minutes flew by.
The Philharmonia is in great shape, and this was an excellent showcase. Right down to the double basses, every section of the orchestra was given ample opportunity to show its mettle. And many of the instruments singled out for important solos were unusual ones. The orchestra's principal trombonist, Byron Fulcher, gave a sterling performance in the opening movement. And Alistair Mackie's hauntingly distant offstage flugelhorn solos, supported by the barest shimmer from the violins, were the focal point of the third.
Zander's forte seemed to lie in the sunnier, more dance-like episodes. Not that the introduction to the monumental first movement, with its growling brass, was any less portentous than it should have been; but the March that followed really sparkled. Foot-tappingly jaunty, it expanded to take on a big-band swagger without the players losing any of their remarkable rhythmic tautness. And Zander was responsive to quicksilver detail; in the midst of the rustic second movement, the flash of Romanticism announced in a swirl of the harp was gone almost before one knew it was there, but was no less effective for its brevity.
The choir - the ladies and boys of the London Philharmonic Chorus and Tiffin School respectively - were on their feet by the end of the third movement, giving a visual reminder that Mahler had now turned his attention to the world of man. Catherine Wyn-Rogers was the true-toned, velvety mezzo soloist, making the lines by Nietzsche in the fourth movement really tell, and delivering a heartfelt stab of doubt into the ringing choral assurances of the fifth.
Salvation comes in the slowly treading, sustained orchestral eulogy of the final movement. Here the strings were at times a little hesitant, and the lines did not always dovetail perfectly into one another. But Zander's sense of pacing did not let him down. Orchestral crescendos were drawn out thrillingly, so that it always seemed there was more to come until the last climax. Zander and the Philharmonia have not yet added the Third Symphony to their catalogue of Mahler recordings together but, when they do, it will have been worth the wait.
