RECORDING OF THE MONTH
Gustav MAHLER (1860-1911)
Symphony No. 1 in D major Titan (1887/88, rev. 1893, 1896, 1898) [57:59]
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra/Manfred Honeck
rec. 26-28 May 2008, Heinz Hall, Pittsburgh, USA
EXTON SACD EXCL-00026 [57:59]
Something wonderful is happening at the Pittsburgh Symphony under the stewardship
of Austrian conductor Manfred Honeck. I have heard several of their recent
recordings and have witnessed the fruits of this astonishing resurgence at
first hand at the Berlin Musikfest 2011 in September. It was the tenth
anniversary of 9/11. I was in the audience at the Berlin Philharmonie for
the Pittsburgh orchestra’s Mahler 5. They delivered “a musical
tour de force … awe-inspiring playing.” At the time of writing
the actual performance can be viewed free of charge on the Pittsburgh
Symphony Orchestra website.
Based in Pennsylvania State, the Pittsburgh Symphony has a long and fine tradition.
I have numerous excellent recordings made mainly in the 1950s and 1980s most
notably from William Steinberg, André Previn and Lorin Maazel. Under
Manfred Honeck they have produced recordings that delight and inspire both
for their excellence of performance and for superior sound quality.
The First Symphony has a rather protracted history. His friend Natalie Bauer-Lechner
wrote that Mahler completed the workin Leipzig in the spring of 1888
although it almost certainly originates from some years earlier. It was Mahler
himself who introduced the score at the Vigadó Concert Hall, Budapest
in November 1889 whenit was described as a ‘Symphonic Poem in two Sections’
with no programme explanation provided. It was poorly received and Mahler
said that he felt like an outcast and that friends avoided him. He consigned
the five movement score to the drawer. Later he had a change of heart and
began to undertake major revisions prior to a performance given in Hamburg
in October 1893. For this Hamburg performance Mahler provided an extensive
programme note describing the score as the Titan a ‘Tone Poem
in Symphonic Form’. This time the reception was more approving. In March
1896 for a concert in Berlin the programme title was dropped and the Blumine
movement omitted. The score, now in four movements, was now plainly titled
‘Symphony in D major’. It seems that more revisions were made
in 1898 prior to its publication by Weinberger, Vienna.
In the first movement Langsam, Schleppend (Slowly, dragging)
Honeck takes the listener to a shimmering woodland glade at dawn. The scene
teems with the sights and sounds of nature. An iridescent glow and pastoral
mysterious feeling provide a convincing atmosphere. A woodwind fanfare, hazy
trumpet work and piercing cuckoo-calls on the clarinet all signal the awakening
of spring. Exultantly martial fanfares herald the fortissimo brass
which often convey an irreverent quality. To close the movement boisterous,
heavy percussion exhibit a strangely dark, almost mocking childlike humour.
Honeck unfolds the orchestral canvas allowing it to breathe and expand. It
all feels so youthful and fresh. I was struck by the emphasis accorded to
the brilliant detail of Mahler’s remarkable imaginative scoring.
The unique and extraordinary Scherzo is suffused with the rustic rhythms
of the ländler and the refinement of the waltz. It is taken by
Honeck at a pace that feels just right. One senses that the colourful woodwind
and vibrant brass are having the time of their lives with much yelping and
clucking. In the trio an elegant and feminine waltz feels so evocative
of a Viennese salon. Honeck ensures that the weighty ending has a wild and
restless quality. From the joys of spring in the third movement we are transported
to a lumbering and gloomy funeral procession. Mahler’s klezmer
band of Bohemian musicians is delivered in a distinctive manner feeling suitably
tawdry and mocking. Later the playing of the klezmer becomes even more
irreverent - a sense of inebriation after the wake.
Mahler once described the Finale as Dall’ Inferno al Paradiso.
It suggests the journey from Inferno to Paradise. Beginning with a
terrifying roar of anguish, the stormy introduction prefaces highly dramatic
and often thrilling music.
Honeck’s interpretation of the epilogue is highly and reverently moving
and tinged with sorrow. The second Victorious motif is given a wonderfully
dramatic and especially triumphantfortissimo - real power. Between
the development and the recapitulation, the slow section - complete with bird
calls - has a spiritual quality with everything sounding as if it comes from
the far distance. Maybe this is a depiction of paradise. Honeck asks for and
gets a terrific weight of volume. You can hear this in the exhilarating coda
that ends the work in triumph. The effect is both awesome and intensely triumphant.
I have collected a number of fine recordings of this work. The most satisfying
of all the accounts I have is that from Rafael Kubelik and the Bavarian Radio
Symphony Orchestra on Audite
95.467. Recorded live in November 1979 at the Hercules Hall, Munich-based
maestro Kubelik demonstrates naturalness and a deep perspective. The live
Honeck performance is up there with the best available versions. Recorded
in super audio sound the Exton CD offers marvellous sonics: vivid and well
balanced. The audience in the Heinz Hall was hardly noticeable apart from
the thunderous applause. I enjoyed every minute, everything was entirely convincing
and the overall effect was awesome. Manfred Honeck is on course to be a great
Mahlerian.
Michael Cookson
see also review by Gavin
Dixon
Manfred Honeck is on course to be a great Mahlerian.