I don’t care how jaded you are, there really is nothing like Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony. You can be sitting there, judging this, nitpicking that, and then all at once, the world vanishes, and it’s like you’re suspended in the middle of one of those enormous 19th century canvases. The awe inspired by chorus, organ, and orchestra in the work’s final moments is transformational and overwhelming.
I caught it yesterday afternoon with The Philadelphia Orchestra, since my weekend is jam-packed. Was it not my benchmark “Resurrection” Symphony? Who knows? Who cares? I’m just thankful to have heard it and that I was able to pull myself together enough to be able to drive home.
With soprano Ying Fang, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir. Two more performances at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts this weekend, tonight at 8:00 and Sunday at 2:00. Build in time to emotionally center yourself afterwards.
Tickets and information at philorch.org
Mahler’s Overwhelming, Disorienting Masterpiece
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16 responses
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16 responses to “Mahler’s Overwhelming, Disorienting Masterpiece”
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I’m attending Saturday night. It is exhausting for the musicians – ale of whom played a chamber music concert in Chestnut Hill last night.
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Kenneth Hutchins I wouldn’t have been able to do anything after yesterday’s performance. They’ll lose an hour tonight, too, with the time change. They’re going to be beat tomorrow!
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Classic Ross Amico That’s why I avoid the Sunday matinee concerts.
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I don’t think Yannick is a real musician, but an imitation of one.
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Zlat Zlat My point is that I was jotting things down in my notebook throughout the first movement, which I have heard done much more characterfully elsewhere, but already in the second the nits were becoming more and more pointless to pick, so seductive is hearing the work performed live and so beautifully was it played by the musicians. The symphony is a stunner, apparently no matter who’s at the helm. Your criticism of Yannick is noted, but with all due respect, if he’s good enough for Joyce DiDonato and the Philadelphia Orchestra, I guess he’s good enough.
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Would you have a similar reaction to the eighth?
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Brian M Davis I heard it in 2008 with Eschenbach, as he was being virtually shuffled out the door, and yes, it was GRAND. The performance was fantastic, like a big eff you to management. Four choirs in that one, including the late, lamented American Boychoir, and brass in the balconies. Somehow I missed it when Yannick revived it in 2016. Yes, it’s a stunner, right from the start.
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I was also there yesterday, and thought it was mostly fantastic. One detail I loved: 11 horns — eleven! Apparently the score calls for ten, so nothing wrong with one more for good measure.
Many interesting details throughout. The OCD completist in me would go tonight and tomorrow, sitting in different parts of the hall. But I am content with yesterday’s glow.
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I wish I had been there. There is a version I always enjoy on YouTube – Dudamel at the Proms 2011.
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Pete Foltz Do you think yourself accursed and hold your manhood cheap that you were a-bed on St. Crispin’s Day?
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Classic Ross Amico Indeed – moving my sleeves and showing my scars..
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yes, one must forget the nitpicking and cherish awesome moments like these. So glad you got to hear this.
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Increasingly, I’m realizing how lucky I am to be hearing any of this music live. I mean, I understand from years of concertgoing how rare it is to hear certain pieces performed that you might encounter on recordings or semi-frequently on the radio. If you miss them when they’re played by your local orchestra, they might not turn up again for decades. Of course, that is not the case with Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony, which is justifiably popular and guaranteed to pack the hall.
But as the recent remarks of Timothée Chalamet confirm (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, google it), classical music has become so marginalized, at least in terms of “relevance” to the masses, in a society in which education is in the toilet and maximum profit drives everything, performing arts organizations are in perpetual danger of withering and dying. These groups can no longer depend on the moneyed classes or corporations or even the government to help sustain them and revenue from ticket sales are not enough to cover Mahler, much less a world class production of one of the great operas.
Anyone who hasn’t experienced these live has no idea what they’re missing. I’m not saying all of this music will connect with everyone, but there is nothing in the world of popular music that can make you shudder, shatter you, reduce you to tears, and elevate you, like Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony.
It’s tragic that there are so many people who dismiss this kind of music without ever having experienced it or even considering it, or most criminally of all, even know that it’s out there. For me, life would be so much poorer without it.
The tendency to judge and compare performances is natural, and thoughtful criticism can be informative and helpful. (This part has nothing to do with Chalamet.) I am interested to read the thoughts of a person of some experience and see how they processed what they heard. As time passes, such writing takes on added significance as it becomes part of the historical record. It’s often helpful, or at the very least interesting, to see how a work or performance was received in the past.
It’s the easiest thing in the world to be supercilious – to nitpick or dismiss something out of hand because we think we know better – but we should never lose sight of just how lucky we are to be able to experience this music at all and how sublime it can be.
Apologies, I didn’t realize how involved this comment was going to get. Don’t be surprised if I recycle it a separate post!
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Classic Ross Amico “Increasingly, I’m realizing how lucky I am to be hearing any of this music live.”
So true. I had a nice short exchange yesterday with a person who was in the audience last night, who had never heard the piece live. (He loved it.) And as much as I adore recordings — and am grateful for them — there really is nothing like hearing works like this in an enormous space, and watching the musicians create the magic before your eyes.
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Bruce Hodges No! I don’t care if you’ve got a googlephonic system with a moonrock needle, no recording can ever convey the earthshattering power of a work like this as experienced in a concert hall. That’s not to say the end still doesn’t give me tingles, even when hearing it on the radio, but my whole body doesn’t vibrate to the point where I start to lose it.
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Nailed it, Ross.
I admit to a smidgen of envy.
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