Mahler’s Mighty Third Receives
Luminous Performance by
the Budapest Festival Orchestra
The Budapest Festival Orchestra under Iván Fischer’s direction, made beautiful sense of Gustav Mahler’s sprawling Third Symphony in a concert sponsored by Vivo Performing Arts in collaboration with the Boston Lyric Opera.
By Robert Nesti
While watching Iván Fischer conduct the Budapest Festival Orchestra in an evocative performance of Gustav Mahler’s Third Symphony in Symphony Hall on Tuesday night, why was I thinking of 2001: A Space Odyssey? No, it wasn’t because Kubrick appropriated Richard Strauss’s mighty opening to Thus Spoke Zarathustra for his space epic (though it is not unlike Mahler); rather that both works offer different takes on the journey of man, from the primeval to the spiritual and cosmic. And both are very different in tone: Kubrick’s is cool and satiric; while Mahler’s is emotional and earnest.
They both aspire to greatness, and succeed with audacious works that only grow with multiple viewings or listenings. On Tuesday, Fischer gave the Mahler an extraordinarily perceptive reading: detailed, attentive to its ever-changing moods, and mindful of its overarching arc, which Mahler initially detailed in program notes, but did not publish because he wanted the listener to make their own conclusions.
He shared them with friends and they were later published, and have long shaded, for better and worse, the way the symphony is heard. But they do remain instructive: there is something about the great clashes between light and dark in the first movement that bring to mind Summer marching in (as Mahler alluded to); or the transparent orchestration of the second movement that suggests the delicacy of flowers in bloom; and the bird calls in the boisterous third that evoke animal life in the forest.
If the first three movements are earthbound, rooted in nature, then the next three move to a more spiritual realm, with a contralto soloist evoking questions of life and redemption against a hushed orchestral accompaniment in the fourth. (The text is from Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophical work, Thus Spoke Zarathustra.) The lively fifth movement opens with the heralding of bells sung by the boys’ choir and a song of forgiveness between the repentant soloist and the combined voices of the women’s and boys’ choirs.
This leads to the mighty Adagio, a sustained, meditative 25-minute finale that begins softly only to build in waves to a monumental conclusion with brass and timpani in the forefront. What better way to describe this deeply spiritual music than Mahler’s initial description of it, “What Love Tells Us?” Its power to move invites sentimentality, but he does so with music that challenges the listener at every turn, a yin-and-yang dynamic that defines his greatness as a composer.
Mahler assembled mighty forces for this journey: an oversized orchestra numbering up to 120 musicians; a contralto soloist; a women’s choir; and a boys’ choir. And he allowed his work to breathe, spreading out in a six-movement structure that is 100 minutes long. Its 40-minute first movement is longer than most Mozart symphonies. Yet with all great works of some length, when done right, it speeds by. There were no longueurs in Fischer’s driving interpretation that segued between its many moods and musical textures with keen understanding of Mahler’s unique musical language and ideas.
Also compelling was watching Fischer micro-manage the orchestra, not with a baton but hand gestures to the orchestra’s different sections. The largely young orchestra is one that Fischer helped form 42 years ago and has shaped into the first-tier ensemble it is today. His interpretations of the Mahler symphonies (both recorded and in performance) are highly regarded for their intelligence and emotional transparency. He deftly balanced the giant first movement’s battle between dark, sluggish sequences and fervent marches and fanfares, then brought the volume down for the gentle minuet of the much quieter second movement. The boisterous third movement, a scherzo, has the woodwinds playing the sounds of the birds and a haunting, offstage posthorn solo, exquisitely played by Bence Horvath, who deservedly took a bow (posthorn in hand) during the prolonged standing ovation at the concert’s conclusion.
Soloist mezzo-soprano Gerhild Romberger’s plush vocal floated effortlessly above the muted orchestra of the solo, and her back-and-forth with the two choirs was nicely balanced. The concert’s high point was Fischer’s luminous reading of the final adagio, the symphony’s crowning glory. (The choirs were comprised of women from the Boston Lyric Opera Chorus and boys of the St. Paul’s Choir School. The concert was sponsored by Vivo Performing Arts, formerly the Celebrity Series of Boston, in collaboration with Boston Lyric Opera.)
Though it premiered in 1902, Mahler’s Third was little heard in Boston. There was a performance of only the first movement in 1942 by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, who 20 years later presented the first full performance of the work at the start of what became the Mahler renaissance. Since then the work has been played some 45 times by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Symphony Hall and Tanglewood as Mahler became part of the standard repertory. And in an unusual programming confluence, it will be heard a second time in a few weeks when the Boston Philharmonic presents the work under Benjamin Zander at Symphony Hall on April 11. But the beauty of Mahler, like the films of Stanley Kubrick, is that they continue to astound no matter how many times you listen or see them.
For upcoming dates of Vivo Performing Arts events, visit its website. For upcoming events with the Boston Lyric Opera, visit its website.