Boston Philharmonic Performs Mahler's First and Songs of a Wayfarer
Carolyn Gregory, Sytylus, October 12, 2003
Posted: 2003-10-20 10:57:57
Celebrating the twenty fifth anniversary season of the Boston Philharmonic, the orchestra performed the first of four sequential Gustav Mahler symphonies (and other major compositions) on Sunday, October 12th at Sanders Theatre in Cambridge. As always preceding the Boston Philharmonic's concerts, conductor, Benjamin Zander offered concertgoers a pre-concert lecture that was richly instructive, both about Mahler's complexity and the evolution of his music as the bridge between German Romanticism and Modernism. Zander painted Mahler's life and music in bold strokes, claiming that "everything about him was amazing". At age three, for example, Mahler knew 200 songs! His "Songs of the Wayfarer" were written at the young age of 23, though their level of sophistication would indicate a much more mature composer. Indeed, Mahler's First Symphony came (to use Zander's words again) "fully armed like Athena into the world", evolving from a short work, Blumine, written previously for his great lost love, Johanna Richter.
And on to the music, itself. The "Songs of the Wayfarer" began with subtle use of horn and orchestra in pianissimo mode, slowly waking with moody, mellifluous oboes. From his first song notes, baritone soloist, William Sharp, was magnificent. His voice was nuanced, lyrical and emotionally resonant. Most notable to this reviewer was the beauty in his upper range. These four songs were written by Mahler in a state of despair at being jilted by Johanna Richter. Despair is set against the great and restorative beauty of nature, replete with its bird songs and bursts of thunder - subtly melodic - yet Mahler pushed the form toward Modernism with his persistent key shifts from minor to major keys. The songs were admirably performed with passion and poetic restraint. This was a moving performance of the songs and worthy of note. The First Symphony was next and what a new world we entered. Starting out with a view of lost innocence, we're surrounded by birds in out journey to the countryside. The second movement grew more complex. An active Viennese country dance starts energetic, full sail, then becomes a waltz with lots of lyrical rubato. The orchestral playing was terrific in this movement, balancing the strings, woodwinds and horns consistently throughout. The third movement was rather like a sustained poem. An ominous folk song played on the bass was then picked up by English horns and oboes. The song was then shared among orchestral sections, moving into a Klezmer tune, then winnowed down with lovely strings and woodwinds in dialogue. There's the sense of time marching forward on repeated, sustained heartbeats toward the tumultuous climax.
The concert was a smashing triumph! From the subtle beauty of William Sharps' solo singing to Johanna Kurkowicz's delicate and refined violin work to the subtle double bass playing in the First Symphony, this was a first rate performance of Gustav Mahler. The orchestral dynamics were consistently excellent. From the introduction of the cuckoo motif to the well defined transition into the lyrical, melodic main theme to the use of the whole "Mahlerian orchestra", the performance was very satisfying. There was good crescendo-decrescendo control throughout, nice shifting between the light and pastoral into the dark and tumultuous, giving further credence to Mahler's bold and large universe. I look forward very much to the next concerts in this Mahler series. Kudos to the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and to Boston musical natural resource, Benjamin Zander.
