I have long thought Mark Wigglesworth to be a conductor of ever-growing
stature, and, though still a very young man, he has built a worldwide
reputation since winning the Kondrashin Competition in 1989. He
seems able to turn his hand to most composers and styles – I recently
heard a radio broadcast of a very stylish performance of Haydn’s
99th Symphony and a thrilling account of John
Pickard’s The Flight of Icarus with the San Francisco Symphony.
So,
as you can imagine, I came to this disk with open ears and
a lot of expectations. Let me say right away that I was not
disappointed.
Like
much of Mahler, this is a big work and tends to sprawl, thus
a firm hand is needed to guide the orchestra, and listeners,
through the many and various aspects of the tragic events
which unfold during the its course.
The
first movement is marked Allegro energico, ma non troppo,
Heftig, aber markig (fast and energetic, but not too
much – heavy, but pithy). Wigglesworth has, I think, taken
his time to work out exactly what Mahler means by this and
in consequence, he chooses a very deliberate tempo for the
movement, not as slow as Barbirolli on his justly famous EMI
recording (0094636528526 – coupled with Ein Heldenleben),
but slower than most. However, the music doesn’t appear to
be played slowly. In its own way it is energetic and fast,
but certainly not too much, in addition to which Wigglesworth
employs a certain necessary heaviness and, considering pithy
to mean “to the point”, he gets to the point right from the
start. Wigglesworth makes his tempo really work, and as a
consequence there is more cohesion between the fast, argumentative,
music and the slower middle section. His interpretation really
comes into its own with the coda, which starts very slowly
and purposefully, with the most menacing contrabassoon, gong
and trombones, before taking off in the rush to the conclusion.
But there is no lack of poetry – the Alma theme is
well shaped and is given more than sufficient breathing space
to make its full effect. Wigglesworth also manages to avoid
any feeling of militarism, which can so often take over because
of the trenchant march rhythms which suffuse this music. I
must also mention that the exposition is repeated and this
is so essential for, in Mahler’s scheme of things, we never
hear this music again in the same way.
There
is one problem: the recording. This music is recorded at such
a low level that you really have to turn up the volume control
to get a reasonable perspective on the music – and even then
some detail is lost – where are the cow-bells, for instance?
The poor trombone occasionally gets lost somewhere in the
texture, and the percussion is rather distant.
Then
the scherzo starts, and with the immediate attack of timpani,
cellos and basses we are in a different sound-world altogether.
Here all is clear and bright with a really good perspective
on the spread of the sound, and with this better point of
view, more detail is available. This recording was made at
two different live performances and I wonder if, rather than
edit the best bits from both performances together - supposedly
to give us the best performance available - we have been given
different movements from the two performances. Certainly,
the music-making has a very live feel about it and seems to
be without editing within the movements. I do hope that this
is the case. Therefore, I wonder if the difference in sound
is because the performance on the 15th was given
at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, whereas the later performance
was given in the evening? The different climate conditions
could have affected the sound.
But
back to the music. It seems incredible that Mahler dithered
about the order of the two middle movements when it is so
obvious that this scherzo continues the argument from the
first movement, albeit in a totally different way. Wigglesworth
takes the tempo marking at its face value Wuchtig (weighty)
and again takes a very deliberate approach to the music, with
a forthright and purposeful forward motion – but this is
not to say that he doesn’t release the tension when the music
demands it. This is very well done. And so is the Andante,
which contains some lovely playing and superb phrasing. The
long lines are truly sung and he makes the climax grow naturally
from what has gone before. Wonderful music making.
The
sound is even better on the second CD, which contains the
finale. This is a long, complicated, piece of work and very
difficult to make sense of because of the somewhat diffuse
construction. Again, Wigglesworth has obviously thought out
what he wants and where he is going. I especially like the
way he makes the transitions from tempo to tempo easily and
bonds the many different moods and events together making
them part of a whole rather than treating them as a collection
of separate episodes. No mean feat this. After a re-statement
of the Alma theme, transformed, on violins, at the
start, Wigglesworth treats the slow introduction as a true
preface, presenting the ideas and allowing the tempo to ever
so slightly increase so that when we arrive at the devastating
allegro we are prepared for it. Then off we go, hammer
blows dealing with the fate of the artist (the third one missing,
after Mahler’s thoughts), and very well captured by the engineers,
grotesque brass fanfares, march rhythms, scurrying, frightening,
string runs and timpani underpinning the music with their
incessant rhythms. It’s thrilling stuff and Wigglesworth and
the orchestra throw all caution to the wind and let go in
wild abandon. I especially enjoyed the grotesque use of twigs
hitting the bass drum rim at 13.58 – a truly macabre moment.
The coda is drawn in long, tortured, lines, the brass lament
poignant in its very simplicity and the final bars, when they
come, are devastating in their intensity. Wigglesworth, rather
bravely, almost throws away the final pizzicato A and there’s
a full, pregnant, 17 seconds of silence before the audience
applauds – and I am glad that this was put on the recording
for it helps us to unwind from the experience we have just
had.
On
the Melbourne Symphony’s website, advertising these performances,
it is stated that “... this rarely-performed symphony will
be a major musical event in 2006.” It’s interesting to think
that this Symphony can be considered rarely performed, but
perhaps it is in Australia. If that is so then this performance
must have gone some way to rehabilitate it ‘down under’.
The
performance? Excellent. The playing is first rate – the brass
in particular make a fine sound, the horns in the finale are
glorious, and the muted trumpets snarl nastily, just as they
should. The wind and strings sing their hearts out – although
on a couple of occasions I found the sound to be slightly
under-strung. The percussion underpin everything, although
they are sometimes rather backwardly balanced so they don’t
make their full effect.
The
sound? Well, apart from my reservations about the first movement
it is very fine, crisp and clear, with a good perspective
on a very full orchestra, and it improves as the performance
progresses.
The
notes in the booklet are by Gordon Kerry, himself a fine composer,
and he casts a composer’s eye over, and writes well about,
the music.
I
started this review with the statement that Mark Wigglesworth
was a conductor of ever-growing stature. I was wrong, He is
a great conductor. The power, insight and intelligence he
shows in shaping this performance, and bringing it to fruition,
proves it.
Despite
my few reservations, this is, without doubt, another Recording
of the Month.
Bob Briggs
