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Colorado MahlerFest XXII: A report from Boulder by Mitch Friedfeld (MF)


A triumph is sweeter the more difficult the struggle. And that was certainly the case with Colorado MahlerFest XXII, which took place between May 13-17. MahlerFest in May, not January? That is because of the amount of time needed to assemble and prepare the immense forces of the only work on the program, Mahler’s mighty 8^th Symphony.

This was a year of firsts for MahlerFest. In addition to the new time of year and the fact only one work was presented, there was also some offstage drama. It all started innocently enough - the organizers had arranged with officials at the University of Colorado’s Macky Auditorium to build stage extensions so that the double-choir, soloists (except Mater Gloriosa, who would sing from her typical spot, in a balcony), and the entire orchestra would be on the same level. “We’ve got it under control, we’ve done it before,” they said. The extensions were built with donated material, and a fabulous article in the Boulder Daily Camera ginned up local enthusiasm and was read by everybody...including the University of Colorado Fire Marshal.

That worthy ordered a number of changes to the extensions, including two coats of fire-retardant paint. This was on the Monday or Tuesday before the weekend concerts. The will was there, but those pesky laws of physics simply would not allow the organizers the time required to get the extension up to code. So they dismantled the extension, and it was back to a split-level setup: The double-choir was on risers, crammed into the narrow rear of the Macky stage. In front of them were the percussion instruments, all of the winds and the basses, and the soloists with the exception of Ms. Gloriosa. On the floor, in the space previously occupied by several rows of seats, were the rest of the strings. Towering above them on a tall podium so that he could be seen by everybody was conductor Robert Olson. Macky officials admitted publicly that the blame was theirs. The program book, printed weeks before the event of course, bears the inscription, "Home Depot, Boulder (Macky stage buildout)." Schade!

The disappointment at all  this was felt throughout all of MahlerFest, possibly most deeply in the orchestra itself. The rehearsal Tuesday night, when the decision was made to dismantle the stage, was very weak. Confidence was down, concentration ditto. Contributing to the problem was a last-minute switch of venue from Macky to a smallish auditorium in the music building. This was without a doubt the shakiest  playing I had heard in my eight years of attending MahlerFest, and I was wondering if so much could be fixed in so little time.

So it was good to go to the chamber recital on Wednesday. CU music professor, baritone Patrick Mason, arranged a typically thoughtful recital geared to settings of Faust. For only the second time since I’ve been attending, there were no songs by Mahler. Instead we heard songs set to Faust, by Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Liszt, Mussorgsky, and a special treat, the rarely heard Faust et Hélène by Lili Boulanger. Patrick, joined by mezzo-soprano Katherine Montgomery and tenor Joel Burcham (another CU faculty member), and accompanied by MahlerFest regular Christopher Zemliauskas, put on a wonderful recital that set the stage for the weekend.

I was out of town for a social event on Thursday, which meant I missed that night's rehearsal. So, remembering the troubles of Tuesday night, it was with great trepidation that I entered Macky for dress rehearsal on Friday, which would be the last rehearsal before the two weekend concerts. The pedal went down, the E-flat major chord went up, and the chorus roared out Veni, Creator Spiritus. Everyone was agape. Olson, working his usual witchcraft or sorcery – appropriate for a piece one of whose main characters is Mephistopheles – had brought the ragged MahlerFest SO into fine form with only a few touch-ups needed, most of which concerned choral entries. We were stunned. And suddenly optimistic.

But MahlerFest is not all about music. Even though the run-up to the  orchestral concerts is special – the open rehearsals, chamber recitals, mountain sightseeing, and nonstop socializing - by far the best day of any Fest is Seminar Saturday. On Saturday you get a full day of seminars, again the nonstop socializing, the opportunity to talk to leading Mahler scholars, and oh yes, a concert at night. It's a full day of glorious Mahlerian excess; all the more so this year with the 8^th on the menu.

The first speaker was Prof. Jane K. Brown of the University of Washington. Dr. Brown, a Goethe scholar and not a musicologist, got her talk off to a provocative start when she said, "The entire key to understanding Mahler's conception of Faust is in the very last word of the work's 12,000 lines: 'hinan.' More precisely, it is in the last phrase: 'Das Ewig-Weibliche Zieht uns hinan.'" Should this phrase be perceived (or translated) as "The Eternal-Feminine leads us higher," or "The Eternal-Feminine leads us onward"? If "higher," then the reader has perceived the poem as religious. If "onward," then the reader has perceived the poem as relating to the cycles of life and to Goethe's ideal: eternal striving. And that defines the moral paradox of Faust: If it is always good to develop, then Faust must seduce and abandon Margaret (also known as Gretchen; see settings by Schubert among many others).

Faust, with its restless striving, became a leitmotiv of German nationalism. "Onward and upward" was the order of the day. Faust, Dr. Brown said, was a great, noisy text – was she thinking of Mahler 8^th when she said this? – which became emblematic of Germany itself. But Mahler's reading of the poem – Dr. Brown initially had "misreading" in her notes but eventually thought that was too strong – is primarily religious. With the massive plagal cadence at the end, Mahler brings the peace to closure. That was wrong, Dr. Brown argued. You can't have that huge Amen at the end, because that implies finality. And if "hinan" is in fact "onward," then the poem does not end...ever. Dr. Brown said that when she first heard the ending of the 8^th, she wondered, "Why is that there? That's not what Faust is about."

Dr. Brown also said that Mahler interpreted Faust without any of the irony that pervades the poem; he did not get the "serious jokes" that Goethe wrote about. "It’s extremely funny...really!" she said. Mahler saw the poem completely as a religious experience, she maintained. Which led to rumblings in the audience. The view was expressed that Mahler's conversion was an expedient, not a profound religious experience, and that therefore Dr. Brown was putting too much emphasis on Mahler’s interpretation of the poem as religious. And if Mahler did not interpret Faust in a strongly religious way, it proved that Mahler had in fact interpreted it correctly.

This was a great example of the interdisciplinary talks that MahlerFest has often hosted. We’ve heard talks on Rückert, the shared imagery between Schubert and Mahler, and the literary roots of Das klagende Lied, but this talk broke new MahlerFest ground, at least for me.

Dr. Stephen Hefling then discussed Mahler’s first inspiration for the Veni, Creator Spiritus music, a sketch of which, in Mahler’s hand, was found in Alma Mahler’s papers. First described in a 1933 article by Alfred Mathis-Rosenzweig but lost until recently, it was very recognizable but definitely different from the Veni music that opens the symphony. To me, the sketch pretty much gave the lie to the idea that Mahler just sat down one day in summer 1906 to start composing, and then eight weeks later the symphony emerged. No, Mahler must have been thinking about this for quite a while before. Stephen then talked about Justine Mahler's Faust Notebook, which Stephen said was very likely Justi's copy of Natalie Bauer-Lechner's notes on Siegfried Lipiner's remarks on Faust. Stephen expressed his opinion that Mahler did not compose the 8th in a relentlessly upward manner and that therefore Mahler in fact did appreciate Faust in a sophisticated way. Was the symphony a "gift to the nation?" Stephen did not see much evidence of such a nationalistic sentiment. Rather, Mahler wanted to be a "bearer of joy," especially as the symphony was composed close to the premiere of the 6th, the impact of which shook Mahler so much that he took several steps to dampen its impact.

Stephen noted that the 8^th is very much a strophic symphony, being rooted in and solidly attracted to E-flat. Although the music does get big, it does not push ahead relentlessly. It spirals, much like Faust with its eternal striving. This was one of Stephen’s subtle but pointed rejoinders to Dr. Brown; it was as if Stephen was saying that Mahler did in fact appreciate Faust in a sophisticated way, that Mahler did not view it as a simplistic upward path to heaven. He then talked about the many references that link the  symphony's two parts. Everything comes together near the end at five bars after Part 2, Fig. 202, the Chorus Mysticus's Alles Vergangliche  - "the real climax of the piece."

After Stephen came Bob Olson to talk about the challenges in conducting the 8^th. Olson didn't say this in so many words, but the theme of his talk was "Tempi, tempi, tempi." "Why do conductors like Mahler?" he asked. It's the challenge of digesting the overall arc and structure; but to negotiate this, questions of tempi are unavoidable. Mahler went to extremes to narrow the boundaries of tempo, yet no other composer has such wide boundaries. Nicht eilen, langsam, sehr langsam, and so forth, all with very few metronome markings in his entire oeuvre; you have to work backward to find logical relationships.

As for general interpretation of Mahler, the greater the number of sections with different tempi, the harder it is to duplicate them. Without a sense of tempo memory, a conductor will find the disparate sections that are marked the same impossible to duplicate. Mahler's trademark is the long, extended accelerandos and ritardandos. It is very hard to get the forces – especially when there are choruses involved, as there have been in the past two Fests – to move together, and particularly when they are amateurs. It's a problem in Mahler in general and nowhere more than in the 8^th.

To illustrate that, Bob pointed us to Part 1, Fig. 23. The bar before is Langsam, then Tempo I (Allegro, etwas hastig). Nine bars later, we're at Sempre allegro. At Fig. 25, Mahler gives the conductor a break: Immer dieselben (always the same), Allegro, for a full 21 bars. At Fig. 28, it's Immer gleich schnell un hastig. For five bars. Then, Sehr fliessend (very fluidly; hmm, what tempo is that?). Six bars later, we're at Noch einmal so langsam als vorher (once again, slow as before); but at the same place, it's Nicht schleppend. For five bars. Then it's Leidenshaftlich (passionate; presumably no tempo change?). At Fig. 32, we are told Nicht eilen, don't hurry. For four bars. Then it's Sehr zart und gehalten, Very gently and controlled, for a full 12 bars. Then, at two before Fig. 35, Etwas zoegernd, somewhat hesitating. For five bars. Then it's Nicht eilen again (is your tempo here the same as it was at the first Nicht eilen?). Four bars after that, it's Etwas langsammer for six bars, then Ploetzlich sehr breit und leidenschaftlichen Ausdruck (suddenly very broad and passionately expressive). Four bars later, it's Tempo 1, Subito, mit  ploetzlichem Aufschwung, with sudden impetus. The laughter grew and so did our sympathy for the poor guy on the podium. "And this is in the more organic part!" Bob said.

Bob spent a lot of time on the word "organic," which he defined more or less as a civilian would: something that fits together smoothly and logically, not cobbled together. The 8^th overall is not very organic, but Part 1 is very much so, especially the double fugue, which is the easiest part of the symphony to conduct because it has a driving rhythm and it's all one tempo. The hardest part of the symphony is the opening of Part 2. That's seven minutes of slow music, loaded with long sections that get even slower...but which have themes that are repeated throughout the rest of Part 2, so it's important to state them clearly and without dragging. Part 2's mission is quite different from Part 1; it tells a story. But because the two parts are so different, it's quite a challenge for the conductor to link the similar episodes in the two parts.

The biggest challenge of all in this symphony, Bob continued, is that the conductor can't get emotionally involved. Rather, he must be involved but he can't lose control. And with so much going on all the time, a loss of control is just a page turn away. Bob has been doing these talks for the past four years and they keep getting better. He apologized for not having much prepared due to the frenzy regarding the stage; if the results are similar to what we heard that day, I hope he comes to the next seminar similarly unprepared.

After lunch, Louis Ekstein of the Dutch Mahler Society spoke about the special events in Europe during 2010-2011 (the 150^th anniversary of Mahler’s birth and the 100^th anniversary of his death). There's been good news, what with the full schedule of events; but bad news too, in that money problems have caused a scaling back of what was to be a massive Rotterdam 8^th.

The final talk was by frequent Fest speaker Marilyn McCoy (who again also gave the two pre-concert lectures as well as sang in the choir on Sunday). Marilyn's talk was titled, "Coaxing the Universe to Resound and Ring: A Look at Some Climactic Moments from Mahler's 8th Symphony." Marilyn first analyzed the climaxes in an earlier piece, Beethoven’s 5^th Symphony. The characteristics there were repetition of short motives, with undetermined holds on last notes; making the instruments play shorter and shorter rhythmic values, so that we are going faster; or going from fast, short rhythms to long ones, then holding the last one out a long time. Volume rises, of course, and percussion is added. It is important to expand the register as well, with higher highs and lower lows. Use a pedal to sustain the tension. Finally, there are dissonant and unstable chords that cry out for resolution. Marilyn talked about the “slingshot effect,” in which Beethoven and others repeated a simple gesture a number of times, similar to pulling back the rubber band and then releasing it; at that point all instruments are playing and everything is resolved or on its way to resolution.

Mahler's climaxes in the 8^th are similar but also have their own characteristics. Marilyn pointed out the unprepared climax at Accende lumen sensibus in Part 1, Fig. 38. For eight bars before, the dynamics are pp and p. Then, with a buildup of only a bar comes the ff "Ac" in "Accende." And to make sure we didn't miss the point, Mahler gives the orchestra and choruses a luftpause before charging off With Sudden Impetus (exactly where Olson ended his tour of the tempi). Mahler's climaxes are longer as well. A great example begins at Part 2, Fig. 186, the long road to the Chorus Mysticus -- and is it any coincidence that Stephen Hefling earlier in the day called this the true climax of the piece? Marilyn was careful not to overlook what she called the "negative climaxes," ones with an extremely condensed time interval. The prototype of this is at Part 1, Fig. 21-23, Firmans virtute perpeti. The passage ends at forte with a resolving descent into not a big crash, but music of great tension.

Which brings us to the weekend concerts. But before they began, I saw something that I've been longing to see ever since my first Fest. And that was the throngs of people standing at the box office and streaming into Macky up until 7:30 and beyond. What was responsible for this superb attendance? Was it the fact they were doing the 8^th? Was it the novelty of a MahlerFest in May, not January, with no snow on the ground? Was it all the proud parents buying tickets to see their kids in the chorus? Could it possibly have been because of the publicity surrounding the stage? Who cared, attendance was astounding, far greater than any MahlerFest I've attended.

Appropriately, Bob conducted with a baton once owned by Mahler and provided by Jerry Bruck, who needs no introduction as a Mahlerian and who has recorded MahlerFest performances for the past several years. Pater Profundus (bass Ashraf Sewailam, a CU grad) at least had a chance from downstairs; what a brutal part Mahler gave him! Cynthia Lawrence, Magna Peccatrix, drew some comment for being somewhat shrill. She made up for it with some breathtaking pp high C's at Fig. 207 of Part 2. Pater Ecstaticus, Kevin Keyes, made us all fans. As usual – for me, at least – the best voice in the room was mezzo-soprano Julie Simson, Mulier Samaritana. As for details, the amplified mandolin was audible and nicely balanced, at least in the part that counted (but overwhelmed in the subsequent tremolo section).

No report of this year's MahlerFest would be complete without a special shout-out to the Colorado Children's Chorale. These 80 kids, singing from the upper right-hand balcony as you face the stage – and opposite the offstage brass – were magnificent. Crystal-clear tone and intonation, never missing a cue, standing up and sitting down almost silently. There's something magical about the children's choir in the 8^th. They seemed to respond to Olson's smiling cues, and I was reminded of Henry-Louis de La Grange's writing about how Mahler too hit it off with his young singers. But I also recalled that leading up to the premiere of the 8^th, Mahler had suffered some fevers and sore throats. While these were apparently not linked to his final illness, it is a fact that he would be dead within a year.

Both performances, each of which surpassed the stunning dress rehearsal on Friday, were astounding. Olson, showing complete command of the mammoth forces, brought out so many passages that made me appreciate the links between the two parts of the symphony. Afterward I mentioned jokingly that Olson had ruined the 8^th for me because, having seen him conduct it three times in three days, I would  henceforth be unable to listen to it on CD only. But that, of course, is not true. Olson's mastery of the 8^th will always be in my mind when I go back to the symphony, illuminating it with countless memories of what happened, in May, in Boulder.

Mitch Friedfeld

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