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Mahler’s ‘Resurrection’ Symphony: Sylvia Schwartz (soprano), Katarina Karnéus (mezzo-soprano), The Bach Choir, Philharmonia Orchestra; Benjamin Zander (conductor). Westminster Cathedral, London 24.3.2009 (JPr)

Benjamin Zander

It was so cold for this concert  in Westminster Cathedral that after 45 minutes of pre-concert talk and ninety minutes for the concert,  I was not so much ready for Heaven’s Pearly Gates to open for me but for hellfire and brimstone!

As Ben Zander surveyed the packed Nave at Westminster Cathedral for his traditional pre-concert event he commented ‘The church would be happy to have that crowd on a Sunday.’ He began by saying ‘This music speaks for itself so it is not necessary to say anything;  but Mahler was a populist and he loved the idea that his music was for everybody and not just a small elite - so he wrote his music for people from all walks or life and his music sprang from all of life. ’He hoped in his talk to give ‘guideposts for those who do not know the music’.

Zander considered the first movement ‘a drama about death but not a funeral march as it has too wide a range of experience’ and the last movement ‘is like a grand cantata for chorus, orchestra and soloists which is an experience of the day of judgement; about the resurrection of mankind and this is a very appropriate place to experience such a thing’. In between he noted that there are ‘two intermezzi both of which look back, one to happier times and the other full of despair, futility and the bitterness of ordinary life’ and then the fourth movement, the song ‘Urlicht’ for the mezzo, that takes us nearer to God. Overall he said,  it was about ‘Death and Transfiguration, from darkness to light and on a gigantic scale. In a space like this it is so appropriate we take you on that journey.’

Zander reminded his audience that Mahler wrote the first movement when he was 28 and he went to Hans von Bülow ‘the greatest conductor of the day’ and sat at the piano and played it for him.  Bülow ‘absolutely hated it and hated it so much he covered his ears and shook his head and said “if this is music I understand nothing about music”.’ Mahler got great approval from von Bülow for his conducting but not for his composing and it took him six years to recover from this devastating criticism:  he did not complete the symphony until seven years later. The second, third and fourth movements were derived from other compositions,  but according Ben Zander,  it was ‘the Finale that stumped him’. It was not until he attended the memorial service for von Bülow in Hamburg in 1894 and heard the choir sing Friedrich Klopstock’s Auferstehung that Mahler knew how to finish his symphony.

With 115 musicians involved,  the orchestra   is twice the size of that needed for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony yet Zander reminded us how Mahler was obsessed with clarity and ‘nothing is buried’. Zander believes that Mahler invented a new kind of music that can be described as ‘emotional counterpoint; a polyphony with the simultaneous emergence of themes and motives each with a different mood or emotion...  and (in which) the secret is to listen to every voice heard in the music.’

Though born in England 70 years ago, Ben Zander has been the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra since it was formed in 1979 and for the last 38 years has also been the conductor of the New England Conservatory Philharmonic Orchestra. His association with the Philharmonia began 14 years ago with a performance of  Mahler's Sixth Symphony at the Barbican and together they subsequently made a series of recordings of Beethoven, Bruckner  - and also Mahler, the composer he is most associated with -  for Telarc. They are currently recording this Mahler ‘Resurrection’ Symphony. Ben Zander is equally well known as an inspirational speaker on leadership and is the co-author of the book The Art of Possibility. His work in many different fields has received international recognition including the presentation of the Crystal award for ‘outstanding contributions in the Arts and international relations’ from the World Economic Forum in Davos.

How did all this translate in performance? Firstly,  I must say that Westminster Cathedral is indeed a wonderful setting for this symphony with its middle-eastern Byzantine style and its marble. The black vaulted ceiling made it seem we were outdoors looking up at the night sky and  the cold temperature in the cathedral did nothing to dispel this thought. However, the acoustics are much better than in  St Paul’s where I heard - and heard - and heard - Mahler’s great Eighth Symphony go back and forth last July due to the reverberation.  Here,  the architecture seemed to have a muting effect on the orchestral sound.

The long first movement opens in C minor with growling cellos and double basses. There was a tenderness in the lyrical passages that Zander dwelt on at the expense of the underlying tension and forward momentum. According to Mahler,  in this movement ‘the dark forces hold sway’, yet as the tumbling triplets were dispatched to bring the movement scurrying to its end,  I had the feeling that it might not have been as foreboding as it could have been and perhaps the Mahler-specified five-minute pause before the next movement was not really necessary as no real respite was needed.

A gentle charm was very appropriate for the lilting Ländler of the Andante moderato. It was as ‘Schubertian’ as Mahler requested but I was beginning to think that Zander’s account was clearly playing up the creation and fecundity of nature at the expense of underlying menace. The third movement is an orchestral version of Mahler's song from Des Knaben Wunderhorn in which St Anthony preaches to fishes who despite  seeming to listen to what he says, return   to their sinful ways when he has finished. Zander paced it perfectly according to Mahler’s instructions 'in ruhig fliessender Bewegung' (calmly flowing) but again I might have liked a little more acerbity now and again, particularly in the woodwinds. The big climax was overwhelming however and Zander whipped his forces into a real frenzy. Next, there was a wonderful hushed entry for Katarina Karnéus’s ‘Urlicht’ who, although admittedly had been a  late replacement for Sarah Connolly,  was disconcertingly following her score; her slightly quavering voice and muffled diction (perhaps the acoustics again?) was not ideal.

The massive final movement rarely disappoints nor did it here,  and had all of  the raw drama that  earlier movements seemed to lack. The orchestra mused on earlier motifs from the work which tried to coalesce and the spatial separation which the  cathedral allowed for the ‘off-stage’ horns was revelatory. There was a portentous statement of the Dies Irae in the pizzicato strings and the resurrection chorale sounded out in the trumpets. Another climax and then the off-stage band signalled the Last Trump and flute and piccolo, in typical Mahlerian fashion, warbled a bird song.

The Bach Choir made such an astonishing sound as the ‘angels’ that Zander required them to be,  and made the last ten minutes incandescent. Sylvia Schwartz’s bright soprano solo voice intoned from within them ‘Auferstehn, ja auferstehn wirst du’ (Rise again, yes rise again you will). Katarina Karnéus, along with the Philharmonia’s mellow violas entered with the words that Mahler wrote himself: ‘O glaube, mein Herz, o glaube’ (O believe, my heart, o believe). The symphony swept dramatically heavenwards under Zander’s urgent baton to its climactic ecstatic coda. In the key of E flat, the chorus sound built to the final statement of the 'Auferstehn' theme. Zander drove the chorus and full orchestra, playing triple forte, onwards and upwards till they produced an almost overwhelming sound. They were joined by bells and organ for a shattering, yet strangely life-affirming, chord of E flat major to end the work. The pure visceral excitement and exaltation of these final bars brought Zander and his combined forces an enthusiastic ovation. Let us hope it is not too long before he conducts again in London; his enthusiasm for Mahler is infectious.

Jim Pritchard

Ben Zander is president of the Gustav Mahler Society of the UK (www.mahlersociety.org) and for more details about his own activities please visit www.benjaminzander.com.

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