SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

SEEN AND HEARD UK CONCERT REVIEW

Mahler, Mozart: Lucy Crowe (soprano), Pamela Helen Stephen (mezzo), James Gilchrist (tenor), Peter Rose (bass), BBC National Chorus of Wales, BBC National Orchestra of Wales / Thierry Fischer (conductor), St. David’s Hall, Cardiff, 11.6.2010 (GPu)

Mahler, Adagio - Symphony No.10

Mozart, Requiem

 

A programme made up of two works left unfinished at the deaths of their composers; two works whose fates were, though very different in the years after those deaths. At his death Mahler left unfinished a tenth symphony, conceived as a work in five movements. The first movement was an Adagio, and this was the only movement left in something like a state of completion. The symphony as a whole was dependent on the work of later editors, most notably Deryck Cooke; other versions include ones by Clinton Carpenter and Joseph Wheller, and the performing version by Remo Mazetti Junior, which appeared in 1989. Also published in 1989 was a revision of Cooke’s version, first published in 1964, by Colin and David Matthews (a version to which Berthold Goldschmidt also made contributions). Mozart’s Requiem, on the other hand, did not have anything like so long to wait for its ‘completion’. To simplify a long, and complicated, story – a story which necessarily involves a certain amount of conjecture – Mozart’s unfinished score was completed (largely) by that interesting figure Franz Xaver Sussmayr (one of Mozart’s pupils), though other hands, such as those of Joseph Eybler probably made contributions too. Sussmayr completed the Lacrimosa and may (or may not) have had sketches by his master on which to base ‘his’ Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei and Lux aeterna. Composite as it may be, the whole breathes a thoroughly authentic ‘Mozartean’ air.

Cardiff has heard some fine Mahler performances during 2010 – most recently a Jac van Steen’s Sixth Symphony (with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales) and Lothar Koenig’s First Symphony (with the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera). This performance of the Adagio from the tenth was ultimately less satisfying than either of those fine performances. In large part, no doubt, this was due to the nature of the music. It is, after all, only part of a work and one misses, hearing it thus, its relationship to the other parts of the work. If we give any credence (and we surely should) to Mahler’s famous aphorism to the effect that “a symphony should be like the world - it should embrace everything", then it is inevitable that no one movement of a several-movement symphony can be wholly satisfying, can “embrace everything”. Thierry Fischer didn’t produce a performance so absolutely persuasive as to override such issues, such a nagging unease. It was, it goes without saying, a thoroughly competent perfromance. There was much that was delicate and subtle, and there were moments of impressive power too. The violas played the opening beautifully and well deserved their special ovation at the end. The wave-like rises and falls, dynamically speaking, were generally well handled; the playing of the brass section, however, wasn’t quite as impressive as it has often been of late. The whole left one with a sense of issues unresolved, not only for the inevitable reasons outlined above, but also because of a degree of tentativeness in the closing bars. A good performance, well worth hearing, but not the very best one has heard from this fine conductor and orchestra.

The ensuing performance of Mozart’s Requiem again offered much that was impressive and moving without being wholly satisfying. Fischer’s decision to use quite such a large choir (over a hundred) with a relatively small orchestra was a surprising one and one that led to problems, especially as the conductor took many movements of the work at pretty fast tempos. So large a choir, for all the quality of its singing (and it is a very good chorus), cannot be expected to move, to change musical direction, at quite the speed of a chamber orchestra. So there were moments when the chorus, through no fault of its own, seemed to be a greater weight (as it were) than the orchestra could easily take with it (this was noticeable in an Agnus Dei taken somewhat quickly). Nor did the size of the chorus always facilitate questions of balance. Fischer had four very decent soloists on hand – with Lucy Crowe replacing the indisposed Miah Persson at relatively short notice. Fischer’s rapid tempi didn’t always get the very best from the soloists (mezzo Pamela Helen Stephen, in particular, seemed ill at ease at times), as in the Recordare. The Benedictus, on the other hand, worked especially well and in Lucy Crowe and the always-excellent James Gilchrist the performance was blessed with two fine singers whose voices blended well. Peter Rose brought authoritative power to Tuba mirum and Gilchrist’s contributions throughout were characteristically intelligent and expressive. Lucy Crowe’s Lux aeterna glowed attractively and impressively. By no means a ‘bad’ performance, but not quite as compelling as one has grown used to from these forces, nor as emotionally profound as the very best performances of this flawed but extraordinary work.

Glyn Pursglove