Gustav MAHLER (1860-1911)
Symphony no. 2 Resurrection [90:08]
A Portrait of Mariss Jansons : Music Is the Language of the
Heart
and Soul
A film by Robert Neumüller [51:37]
Ricarda Merbeth (soprano); Bernarda Fink (mezzo);
Netherlands Radio Choir; Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Mariss Jansons
rec. live, Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, 3 December 2009
Booklet: English, German, French
Picture: NTSC, 16:9
Audio: PCM Stereo and DTS 5.1
Region Code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: German, English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean
UNITEL CLASSICA DVD 709708 [51:37 + 90:08]
Recently released, this two-disc set consists of a documentary about
the conductor Mariss Jansons. There’s also a recent Jansons
performance of Mahler’s Second Symphony from the Concertgebouw.
Jansons is a familiar presence at the podium as well as on
recordings. Robert Neumuller’s documentary offers a vivid portrait of
the conductor. Illustrated with historic images from Janson’s
childhood, youth, and early career, the documentary also benefits from the
firsthand account by the conductor himself. The German-language interview is
supported with subtitles in English, French, Spanish, Chinese and Korean.
Jansons’ account of his life includes his experience in Soviet Latvia,
along with memoirs of growing up in a musical family. Jansons’ father
was a conductor, whose work inspired his son to pursue a career in music. It
is useful to hear the son’s perspectives on his father’s
achievements. Jansons also discusses his early career, and the excerpts
included in the documentary give evidence of his talent. Yet this
documentary also offers some insights into Jansons’ artistic
temperament, which support the music which he interprets so well.
A case in point is the bonus disc included with the documentary, a
live performance of Mahler’s Second. This recording merits attention
as a solid contribution to the discography of the work. Jansons captures the
style of the work from the start, with a dramatically charged interpretation
of the opening funeral march. The rich, full sound gives a sense of what
Jansons can elicit from the Concertgebouw Orchestra, with the winds and
brass playing off the well-balanced core in the strings. Of the strings, the
incisive cellos are key to the interpretation, with the articulation clear
and biting. The horn passages have an appropriate ring and the trumpet
fanfares fit well into Jansons’ conception. The funeral march and
idyllic reverie are juxtaposed with appropriate contrast. Details in some of
the figuration and other elements are audible in this well-recorded concert.
Dramatic tension is sustained throughout. Jansons sets the conclusion
effectively which echoes the opening musical gesture of Mahler’s
earlier cantata Das klagende Lied.
In paying respect to Mahler’s instruction at the end of the
first movement, Jansons allows for a pause. Yet it is broken by the entrance
of the soloists, whom the audience greet with warm applause. This
momentarily detracts from the mood but it resumes when the piece resumes in
a lyrical interpretation of the second movement. Here the
Concertgebouw’s cohesive strings are at the forefront, as they respond
to Jansons’ direction and follow him to the conclusion. A similar
coherence is evident in the Scherzo, in which Jansons shapes the phrases
with an ear toward the song that Mahler used as its basis, Des Antonius
von Paduas Fischpredigt. (“St. Anthony’s Sermon to the
Fish”). In the trio, Jansons gives fine shape to the quotation from
the Scherzo of Hans Rott’s Symphony in E, a piece Mahler once planned
to perform. With the reprise of the Scherzo in the final portion of the
movement, the dramatic intensity Jansons achieves in the first movement is
evident, as the thematic fragments in the brass are present, but not
overstated.
The fourth movement shifts appropriately to Bernarda Fink singing
from behind the orchestra. Fink’s effortless Urlicht is soulful
and touching. The video focuses on the singer with the camera angle
conveying a sense of intimacy. This focus shifts with the Finale, as the
camera pulls back to encompass the entire stage for the opening of the last
movement. Its dramatic outburst sets the tone visually for the music that
follows. In this movement, as in the rest of the performance, Jansons’
command is evident. He shapes the score with sensitivity to the various
degrees of dynamic and textural nuance. The images of the off-stage players
give physical documentation of the sometimes disembodied sounds, a detail
that adds to the production qualities.
With the choral passages that follow, the close-ups of Jansons show his
involvement
with bringing out the text as he mouths the words. This is reflected in the
attentive
faces of the chorus who perform from memory. The absence of folders and
choral
scores contributes to the intensity. This aspect and other elements
reinforce
the focus on the musical interpretation. Ricarda Merbeth’s fine tone
in
the solo passages is nicely matched by Fink in the duet that follows and
later
the mezzo solo “O glaube! Mein Herz, o glaube”, leading into the
final
duet with Merbeth. That section leads well into the choral Finale at the
culmination,
with the contrapuntal setting of Klopstock’s Auferstehung sung
intensely
by the Netherlands Radio Choir. This is an outstanding performance.
The visual aspects of the DVD fit the music, with crisp images,
realistic color and well-thought videography. The close-ups of individual
players or sections are not random, and the lighting fits well into the
entire effort. The camera angles from various parts of the hall give a sense
of the physical space, a detail that contributes to the overall effect.
Video director Joost Honselaar deserves credit for fine imagery. It makes
for a tribute to Jansons work, which is celebrated appropriately in this
release.
James L. Zychowicz
A revealing documentary matched with a dramatically charged interpretation of Mahler 2.