This is Ivan Fischer's
second Mahler symphony for Channel Classics
with the Budapest Festival Orchestra,
his first being the Sixth recorded in
February 2005. His opening to this Resurrection
symphony, its hero's Funeral Rites,
is disciplined with touches of brusqueness
in the brass. But as this is supposed
to ask "Why did you live?". I'm very
aware of Fischer's empathy for the visionary
aspects of the movement, as if to answer
"To experience all that's lovely".
That vision starts
with the second theme (tr. 1 2:16).
The funeral march, first heard at 0:54,
returns to respond "let's get on with it" but the oboes at 4:46 take its opening
and linger emotively, pleadingly, obsessively
and here very evocatively. The second
theme returns at 5:27 in wonderfully
veiled ppp, surround sound here
conveying a vast spaciousness. At this
point comes a pastoral interlude, those
oboes at 6:14 becalmed with their same
material, a total change of mood in
less than 2 minutes. But it's the first
violins who expand on it at 6:45 in
gentle, gorgeously lapping fashion.
The heroic material is presented by turns as a
bitter and triumphant lot but not worth as much as the visionary,
when in the recapitulation those emotive descending phrases come
from 17:22 in tastefully controlled violins' glissandi. Fischer also gets
across the subversive, questioning elements
to the Spartan formality of the ritual.
The symphony is presented
on two SACDs and I suppose for technical
reasons the split comes after the second
movement rather than, as some CDs put
it, after the first, nodding towards
Mahler's wish for at least five minutes'
pause before the second movement. No
mention is made of this in the booklet
notes and here you get just twelve seconds
break!
The time lapse is intended
to create some distance for what Mahler
called the second movement's "echo of long past days when the
sun still smiled on" the hero. Fischer presents us with a
graceful, gentle Ländler, the Austrian slower precursor of the
waltz. Not too slow, but delighting in the formal emphases and
embellishments within the presentation. This is about a civilized
society. Fischer really gets into it by the slightest of leanings
from time to time, such as at the accent at the beginning of the
cellos' elaboration (tr. 2 0:42). At 3:02 a fuller cellos' theme
emerges which the violins' opening
one accompanies. This is of utter contentment,
Fischer's cellos finely controlled yet
singing from the heart, with growing
yearning and tasteful glissandi from
3:59.
Is placing the opening theme on pizzicato
violins from 7:04 taking make believe too far? It still sounds
gorgeous here. Before the dance becomes totally a Tchaikovsky one,
however, from 7:54 the first violins expand upon the cellos' theme in sunnier, airier
fashion. Again Fischer momentarily lingers
on a descending semiquaver at 8:12,
a nuance hardly strong enough to calibrate,
but you can feel it.
The third movement
scherzo proves a reality check with
opening timpani claps a wake-up call.
Experience sours: things don't work out as hoped. This is a
purely orchestral, expanded version of Mahler's Das
knaben Wunderhorn song Des Antonius
von Padua Fischpredigt about Saint
Anthony preaching to the fish, who appreciate
the sermon but then carry on as before.
The booklet note with these CDs omits
this significant information. Fischer's
creatures are of a nonchalant slippery
nature, though an E-flat clarinet solo
(CD 2, tr. 1 1:00) shows there are some
more raucous elements. The song tune
starts at 1:16 and there's another,
homelier tune at 2:07. Might St Anthony
think all's going well as the trumpets
blaze at 3:59 and even better when they
go into a balmy haze at 5:01? False
optimism. There's a hint of terror come
the returning trumpets blaze at 8:31
because of the recording's clarity of
the additional scoring, especially the
pair of tam-tams. This is confirmed
by the pairs of trumpet calls answering
each other as if at the Last Judgment.
At 8:55 the chasm opens and although
sanity is restored by the homely tune
in the first violins the fissures remain.
At the very end the harps ff
bass gurgle is as graphic as I've ever
heard. I'd take it for the belch of
a whale.
All the more contrast
then in the fourth movement's actual
song, Primal Light, that with
which, its climax affirms, God will
guide you to eternal life. Smoothness
and stillness are the predominant impressions
of the opening, with mezzo Birgit Remmert
warm but also finely controlled in tone
and so well matched by the wind chorale
that follows her opening. Her lovely
smooth octave lift at "im Himmel",
the vision of Heaven (tr. 2 1:35) ensures
a mood of serenity and approaching fulfilment.
The following oboe solo is also beautifully
done. The central narrative is fittingly
alert and the orchestration eventful:
a piccolo for each angel wing at 3:03.
At the very end there's more emotion
and vibrato in Remmert's voice but that
in itself is a touching reminder of
its humanity.
It's Fischer's beatific
calm following the apocalyptic opening
of the finale that next fixes the attention.
The distant horn through which Mahler
portrays "the crier in the wilderness"
(tr. 3 1:51) is only the first of many
colourful aspects of orchestral texture
relished and detailed in the greater
degree of distancing and spaciousness
possible in surround sound. Themes later
to be more markedly displayed enter
unpretentiously: the Dies irae
at 3:18, a probing trombone march at
3:47. But not the theme at 5:36, revealed
in the mezzo solo "O glaube" at 26:58
as being about personal belief in resurrection.
At its first appearance on flutes and
cor anglais Fischer gives it real urgency
with strings writhing around it in a
growing sense of panic. As a contrast
at 7:50 we get a galaxy of brass fanfares
which glow like the sum of the hopes
of human potential. By 10:45, when the
manner has now become that of a popular
march which Fischer treats briskly and
firmly, you feel all human life is there
in what is a March of the Dead to Judgement.
But by 18:08 the human
element has almost vanished to yield
to the most memorable of the spatial
effects. A horn echo at the recesses
of your hearing against nearby, smooth
and soft, brightly presented bird calls.
The chorus enters at 20:33, delivering
the Resurrection hymn with words by
Klopstock in warmly veiled manner yet
also with a keen sense of progression,
a message to convey. You feel it immediately
transfers to the confidence of the orchestral
projection thereafter. The soprano soloist,
Lisa Milne, overlays the close of the
chorus statements smoothly yet, like
Remmert, with humane vibrato. The mezzo
solo begins the greater part of the
hymn's text, written by Mahler. The
choral version at 28:20 of the trombone
theme affirms the resurrection, fulfilled
at 31:50 in the great cry of "Auferstehen",
"You will rise", where the chorus here
creates a surge of electricity.
I compared the 1993
live Berlin Philharmonic/Bernard Haitink
recording as it has recently been reissued
on DVD in surround sound (Philips 074
3131). For exact comparison I played
it in surround sound only, without video.
Here are the comparative
timings
Timings |
I |
II |
III |
IV |
V |
tt |
Fischer |
21:30 |
10:00 |
11:17 |
4:52 |
34:13 |
82:18 |
Haitink |
22:58 |
11:11 |
10:53 |
5:09 |
38:11 |
88:22 |
Although Haitink is
slightly slower in the opening movement,
what I find notable about his account
is the contrast he achieves between
the regimentation of the march and formal
rites music and the freedom of the second
theme in its appearances, especially
the recapitulation where the glissandi
swoon more. His introduction is more
menacing because a touch more brusquely
articulated and the first full orchestra
display of force is more garish than
Fischer's. You also notice more the
appearance and progress of the motifs.
The very clear, quite analytical Philips
Philharmonie sound isn't as glowing
or spacious as Channel Classics capturing
of the Budapest Palace of Arts acoustic.
Fischer gets a greater
density of sound but his articulation
in the introduction is less biting than
Haitink's. However, Fischer's march
has something of manic glee about it.
His second theme, though not as free
as Haitink's, is given poised treatment
and the more rapt hush about its second
appearance (5:27) is a particular pleasure.
Its recapitulation is beautifully presented
and the glissandi are very stylish,
more voluptuous in total effect than
Haitink's, perhaps owing to the greater
density of tone.
Haitink's steadier
second movement gains in relaxation.
There's more control and sweetness about the cellos' theme accompanied in more
silky, feathery fashion by the violins
while his pizzicato later is more formal
and sounds more natural thereby. Fischer's dance is firmer, less
delicate, but with a youthful smile and warmth about it and even a
hint of swagger in the marked accents. His cellos' theme has a
more gentle warmth and the violins'
melody has more presence. His pizzicato
is fuller bodied.
Haitink's slightly
faster scherzo has an appreciably seamless
disquiet about it. You feel there's
always something dramatic likely to
happen. Even those trumpets lolling
at ease seem to be on the verge of something
else. The chasm, when it opens, is the
answer rather than, with Fischer, a
surprise. The sweet violins thereafter
seem clipped and ironic.
Fischer conveys a sense
of changeability in those swimming fish
semiquaver contours and a dourly jolly
mood of "we'll keep going and make the
best of it". The trumpets at ease provide
a misty eyed idyll, vainly attempting
to arrest time. His sweet violins more
purely yearn for what has been.
Haitink's slightly
slower Primal Light has a sustained
warm stateliness with Jard van Nes a
smooth, dignified contralto soloist
backed by rather plush, velvety comforting
strings. However, the oboe soloist's
fastidious phrasing has a somewhat halting
effect and the central section is less
contrasted than Fischer's. I prefer
Fischer's very soft early brass chorale,
closer to Mahler's markings and more
humble and prayerful. In Birgit Remmert's
delivery there seems less certainty
of outcome than with van Nes, which
gives the articulation of the text more
vibrancy. There's more beguiling continuity
about the oboe solo and the strings,
which are muted and always marked softer
than the voice, have a more veiled quality
and are clearly subordinate.
Haitink's finale is
mightily unleashed and his following
calm is like defining the soul of melody.
But his horn in the wilderness is rather
a blazing one. The movement's progress
is measured and coherent, yet with Haitink
too the first appearance of the "O glaube"
theme provokes a writhing response,
more frenetic than Fischer's. His brass fanfares and strings' attack are more
dazzling than Fischer's. His popular
march is sturdy yet with a sense of
culmination and indeed excitement, the
clarity of strings against brass a key
ingredient in this. However, the distant
brass are too strong against the foreground
bird calls. The chorus opening is very
measured and contemplative, without
Fischer's sense of progression. The
soprano solos from Sylvia McNair steal
in firmly and glowingly with a sense
of fulfilment. "Auferstehen", with the
entrance of the organ very clear, is
as electric as Fischer's.
In Fischer's finale
I like his creamier calm contrast after
the explosive opening and his emphasis
on detailing the building blocks of
the movement. I also like his scrupulous
dynamic control and contrast, probably
impossible in a live performance. But
Fischer's approach seems one of keen
exploration rather than Haitink's of
things coming to a head. Fischer's fanfares
aren't as exciting as Haitink's and
his structurally clear popular march
misses the exultation and even fun of
Haitink's. Fischer might retort a March
to Judgement should at least have some
element of doggedness about it. What
is striking is the injection of radiance
into the orchestral response that follows
the first chorus statement.
Time to sum up. The
cover photo is appropriate. Fischer
ponders over the detail, keenly appreciative.
Finely crafted and superbly recorded,
this yields some wonderful results in
the second and fourth movements especially.
There's great range and contrast but
also a comparative lack of natural spontaneity
which makes the overall impact of the
finale less moving than Haitink's.
Michael Greenhalgh
for
details 
Lisa Milne (soprano) 
CHANNEL
CLASSICS CCS SA 23506 [31:50 + 50:28] 
