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Mahler, R. Strauss: Christine Brewer (soprano); LSO/Leif Segerstam. Barbican Hall, 25.1 2009 (CC)


The weekend of 24^th-25^th January 2009 will go down as something of a Richard Strauss-fest. On 24^th, there was a rare performance of the Symphonia domestica over at the RFH (not an all-Strauss programme – some Martinů was there, and the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with Mutter); and here was a mostly-Strauss affair boasting Christine Brewer.

First, though, the non-Strauss item. The names Strauss and Mahler are frequently spoken in the same breath, and here we had the first movement of the latter’s Tenth Symphony. My cherished concert account of the first movement only is of Tennstedt and the LPO at a “Farewell to the GLC” Gala; that of the complete symphony by the Hallé Orchestra under Skrowaczewski, many years ago now, in Manchester’s Free Trade Hall. The LSO clearly likes Segerstam, for they gave a performance memorable for the unanimity of the violas in the endless melody of the opening, for the glowing strings and for dense textures that never became saturated. Most impressive of all was the expertly managed decrescendo after the famous climactic nine-note dissonance. Yet Segerstam seemed content to ignore what might be called the “spookier” side of Mahler –grotesquery was hardly noticeable and those climactic clusters were simply not chilling enough.  Segerstam’s intent seemed to be to iron out some of the variety of the music’s surface, and if that was the case he certainly succeeded.

My first live experience of Brewer was nearly a decade ago, at the RFH in a concert performance of Zemlinsky’s Es war einmal. Her contribution to Hyperion’s magnificent Schubert Lieder Edition produced one of the most memorable volumes. If she was not on absolutely top form here in the Vier letzte Lieder, it was still a pleasure to experience her charms. She gave the impression she had all the time in the world in the opening, soaring phrases of “Frühling” (her miraculous legato was similarly on display in “Beim Schlafengehen”). The voice was resplendent, free. There was also an edge to her sound that I did not remember from previous encounters, useful for cutting through orchestral sonorities perhaps, but it did not seem to sit well with her overall interpretation. “September” brought a memorable horn solo from Timothy Jones (just one stray note caught in mid-slur) which served to match Brewer’s exquisite delivery of the words “Sommer lächelt”. Deborah Nemtanu’s solo violin in between stanzas of “Beim Schlafengehen” was another beautiful contribution from the orchestra. “Im Abendrot” was the crown of the set, and even had this hardened reviewer feeling ever so slightly weepy – until the untidy final chord brought me firmly back to the Barbican.

Segerstam’s beat is remarkably clear, but in the Lieder one got the distinct impression that it was somewhat removed from the expression going on in the actual sounds we heard, something that was on evidence, too, in the second half’s offering, Tod und Verklärung. Here there was a palpable increase in bronchial noises from the audience – time of the year, or general restlessness?. Despite the occasional (metaphorical) hiccough, this was a fine account, boasting a climax delivered with the strength that had me wishing we had heard its mirror in the Mahler. Segerstam managed to provide a feeling of Straussian abandon in the more turbulent passages while ennobling the ending. This was not great Strauss playing, but was certainly not disappointing.

Colin Clarke


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