Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Myung-Whun Chung Conductor: Gustav Mahler — Symphony No. 5
It’s nearly two years since I last heard this work live – a moving occasion at the Proms in 2021 when a scratch orchestra of all the freelance musicians who had been out of work for the past 18 months, because of Covid, had conducted by Mark Wigglesworth – an occasion , with a huge albeit distanced orchestra that just wouldn’t have been imaginable 8 months earlier. The last time I heard the Concertgebouw orchestra was about, oh, 6 or 7 years ago at the Proms – before Daniel Gatti was sacked. I think I’ve written somewhere else here that I was left, after the Concertgebouw Mahler 4 which Gatti conducted then, asking myself why an orchestra which had played so beautifully had given such an ultimately unmoving performance. None of those qualms here…….Although I seem to be reaching for superlatives in these reviews rather often, I simply cannot recall a more moving, life-affirming or memorable live performance of Mahler 5, and that includes Haitink, Rattle, and Honeck from the past. No, it didn’t match the famous Mahler 5 that Bernstein and the VPO gave in 1987 at the Proms (which I heard a broadcast of by the BBC during the 2020 lockdown but was away overseas for at the time) but in terms of what I’ve heard live, this was the best! And, like after my last experience with the Concertgebouw, I’m asking myself – why? These are some thoughts:
- I think a lot of it had to do with the conductor, Myung-Whun Chung. He gave purpose and direction to the whole performance – often quite boldy; he was not afraid to slow down or speed up, sometimes quite dramatically, to make a point, to relish a moment, to support the overall architecture. He was also quite clear as to the direction of the symphony – the pivotal point (the last one of this kind in Mahler’s symphonies), another of those break-through moments, is the first appearance of the chorale theme which comes back at the end of the finale, in the second movement. This was taken very slowly, building up to a huge climax that was quite overwhelming. His handling of the Adagietto was slow – someone who I was talking to afterwards, looking surreptitiously at his watch, made it 11 minutes, not far short of Lenny’s 13 – but beautifully shaped, with an utterly memorable climax – I’ll long remember the lower strings digging in for their lives at that point. Whatever his choice of tempi, they seemed right in the greater scheme of things, and as a result I was wholly focused throughout – I can remember times when I’ve lost focus a bit with the repetitions and false endings in the 2nd and 3rd movements. In his conducting style it was crystal clear what he wanted, with emphatic lunges to make a point, As a result of all this, the finale seemed utterly joyous and again I was transfixed throughout – the chorale tune’s re-appearance again, enormously slow, was quite wonderful. The final point to make was that Mr Chung (if that’s the right name to use) was very good at helping the orchestra to achieve an effective balance, so that inner voices could be heard, and there were many moments when a clarinet or bassoon burbled unexpectedly, and voices popped up which were new to me.
- I guess, aided in the performance by the acoustics of the hall, the other factor was simply the quality of the playing, in all departments. The first trumpet, the horn section, woodwind principals were all magnificent. And somehow – one of those things that sometimes happen in live concerts – the whole became much more than the sum of its parts, a vast breathing organism, with immense power. The adagietto started as a whisper, the last movement ended fff fff. The Concertgebouw PR machine sometimes quotes a critics’ survey a few years ago which rated it ‘the best orchestra in the world’. They were certainly at that level last night.
- I’m happy to report that I wasn’t alone in my reaction to this performance. Most of the audience was on its feet at the end, and those I spoke to afterwards – a group of people I’d met on the guided tour on Friday – had similar reactions…………….
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