Thursday February 11th, 2016 - Semyon Bychkov (above, in a Sheila Rock photo) at the helm of a lustrous and thrilling performance of the Mahler 6th at The New York Philharmonic.
This symphony was premiered at Essen on May 27th, 1906; Gustav Mahler had assigned it the subtitle 'Tragic', and surely feelings of doom or impending catastrophe loom up in the course of the piece. But to me - hearing the symphony live for the first time - the music abounds in hopeful, uplifting themes; perhaps the composer was offering these as consolation for life's tragedies. The great conductor Bruno Walter stated: “The Sixth is bleakly pessimistic: it reeks of the bitter cup of human life." But that's not at all my feeling about this music, at least not until the final movement.
The last movement of this symphony has been called Mahler's greatest single movement, but I can't agree with that: to me it seemed over-long, and packed with too many ideas. The hammer-blows of fate are powerful, but are they really disturbing or shocking in this day and age? This symphony may have seemed 'tragic' in the early 20th century, but since then such enormous human tragedies as the Holocaust, Hiroshima, and 9/11 have perhaps altered the way we think of tragedy: less on a personal level, and more in a history-altering way.
I feel certain I will receive e-mails telling me that I don't "understand" The Mahler 6th. And perhaps I don't. But I know how I felt listening to it.
Between the great, soaring "Alma" theme (honoring his wife) of the first movement (named for the composer's wife) and the sublime beauty of the Andante, much of the music in this symphony elicits feelings of hope and life-affirmation. That these passages are often tinged by poignant hues of regret makes it all the more human. The first movement ends quite suddenly.
Of the Scherzo, Alma Mahler wrote that it depicted two children playing on a beach: “Ominously, the childish voices become more and more tragic, and at the end die out in a whimper.” The music is bittersweet, to be sure. In the Andante that follows, a lullaby-like quality pervades, with a rich outpouring of emotion at the end.
The finale opens eerily, in a slow tempo. The music turns restless, with a sense of vigorous questing; but the hammer blows signal a defeat of hope, and a descent into gloom. Yet for me, I could only fold my feelings back to symphony's earlier passages of passion and tenderness; I left the hall feeling exultant rather than resigned.
Maestro Bychkov marshaled the symphony's huge forces (four harps! three celestes!) to sublime effect in a thrilling performance; players and audience were thoroughly engaged, and communed in a spirit which amplified my feeling that great music can save humanity, if we will only listen.
It's always exciting to see the Philharmonic players filling the entire space of the Geffen Hall stage, and it's even better to hear them! This symphony offers passage after passage of melodic opportunity for the musicians, and all these moments glowed with the characteristic clarity and expressiveness these artists bring to every concert. I was especially moved by Liang Wang's numerous oboe solos tonight; his plaintive tone speaks directly to the soul.
A grand night, then for both orchestra and conductor. Next season we will be fortunate to have Maestro Bychkov with us for a NY Philharmonic Tchaikovsky Festival. This will include three Tchaikovsky symphonies, two piano concerti, FRANCESCA DA RIMINI, and complimentary works by Glinka and Taneyev. I can't wait!
The final movement, an Allegro moderato leading to an Allegro energico, is huge – like a symphony within a symphony. It has a retrospective quality, as if the hero were recalling life’s past events and their collisions with the forces of Fate. A final brass chorale suggests the hero’s courageous engagement with life, but in the end, it is Fate that prevails.
- See more at: http://www.utahsymphony.org/insight/program-notes/1183-mahler-symphony-no-6-in-a-minor-tragic#sthash.9yvGvxhz.dpuf