Although primarily known as an opera orchestra, the Bavarian
State Orchestra holds its own annual series of symphony concerts
at its home in the Bavarian State Opera. These are called the
Academy Concerts. This recording comes from a tour of one of
these concerts: Mahler’s Third Symphony, taken down live
at Vienna’s legendary Musikverein.
The disc serves both as a wonderful Mahler recording and a tour
souvenir; the programme note by a member of the orchestra describes
the tour process. The orchestra members are named individually,
which is a nice touch. Unfortunately the programme notes on the
work itself are only in German.
From the outset, there is a richness and clarity to the sound,
and the orchestra’s experience with opera comes through
in Mahler’s dramatic and characteristic writing. Zubin
Mehta’s relationship with this orchestra is clearly a good
one; he draws out the best sounds from all the players and his
phrasing has a wonderful sense of line and direction. The heavy,
almost Wagnerian sound of the opening gives way to a lightness
of touch when the music requires it, and at other times a sense
of stately elegance overwhelms the scene.
Mahler’s music is at once hypnotic and schizophrenic; the
constantly changing moods and characters need to be understood
and portrayed with care, and this orchestra achieves this spectacularly.
The recording is also very well balanced; the strong tuttis can
be heard without being allowed to dominate, while the textural
details of individual wind and brass instruments come through
to just the right degree needed to be effective without distracting.
The climaxes are similarly spectacular, with tension in the music
building until the point of explosion.
The Third Symphony is one of my Mahler favourites, composed on
an epic scale between 1893 and 1896. Serving as a tribute to
nature, this is a monumental work in six movements. The first
movement, with a duration of almost 35 minutes, forms the first
part of the symphony, while the remaining five movements make
up the second part. The opening movement has a programmatic outline
of Pan waking up and calling summer in. With its spectacular
closing bars, this movement is almost a complete work in itself,
full of diversity of sound and character.
The mood changes completely for the opening of the second movement,
with a charmingly simple minuet featuring a well-played oboe
solo. Mahler’s ability to move from the large-scale to
an intimate chamber music atmosphere is always something that
has impressed me, and here the rich string sound is coloured
by solo woodwind in a beautifully gentle dance. As is typical
of this composer, the mood is interrupted and a new icier dance
takes over, with rushing semiquavers and sudden changes of tempo.
The earlier material returns as if it was always there in the
background, an impressively judged juxtaposition which is performed
here with apparent ease. Mehta uses a wonderfully elastic rubato
in some sections, giving a sense of organic flow.
The bright opening of the third movement is immediately coloured
by the minor key harmonies. There is a sense of foreboding here,
and perhaps also an element of mysticism. This music was originally
subtitled ‘what the animals in the forest tell me,’ and
the upper strings provide shimmering light over the well-executed
woodwind solo lines. A beautifully played trumpet solo is one
of the highlights of the movement [tr. 11]. There is a sense
with this performance that the conductor and orchestra are at
one, taking the listener on a journey. Mahler’s music is
thrilling, exhilarating and also somewhat comforting, working
on many levels and in different ways. Mehta and the Orchestra
present this in the best possible way, engaging the listener
at all times and being thoroughly convincing in their musical
message.
The vocal entry and sumptuous harmonies of the fourth movement
make it a particularly stunning focal point in the symphony’s
journey. There is a distinct stillness and sadness in ‘what
man tells me’, with Marjana Lipovsek’s magnificent
voice floating over the orchestra as she sings Nietzsche’s
text of pain, heartache and death, while the oboe calls from
eternity. This is a moment of contemplation within the symphony’s
fast-moving flow of emotion and its effect is profound. This
performance is expertly judged, with Mehta’s tempo creating
its own sense of tension and space, stopping time momentarily.
The fifth movement takes its text from
Des Knaben Wunderhorn.
It has an innocent and joyful character at the opening, as the
choir sing of angels and joy. Typical of Mahler, though, the
mood quickly darkens and a sense of turbulence takes over. The
orchestral sound changes dramatically according to the mood,
becoming heavier and lighter as necessary, and balancing the
choir perfectly. This really is first class playing from all
involved.
The final movement provides another sudden contrast, reaching
from the Angels to Love, Mahler’s ultimate goal. The string
melody here is one of my top five moments in the orchestral repertoire,
and this rendition had a profound emotional effect. Mehta manages
to create an emotionally expressive sound which does not wallow
and is not over-played. The overall effect is one of naturalness,
of unforced yearning. For me, this movement, and the way it is
played here, is probably as close to musical perfection as it
comes. The climactic moments are dramatic and one has the sense
of the orchestra giving its all. The quiet material which follows
has a wonderful sense of exhaustion, as if coming to the end
of a journey. These moments are perfectly judged and force the
listener to share in the emotional effects. The triumphant ending
is one of the most dramatic and exciting I have heard, with the
wonderful energy of this live performance captured for posterity.
It never ceases to amaze me that the hour and a half duration
of this symphony goes by remarkably quickly, and upon every hearing
I always have the sense of being made aware of some profound
message which makes me somehow different from how I was before
hearing the symphony. Mahler’s music deals with extremes
of emotion from joy to harrowing pain, and the experience of
listening can be both cathartic and awe-inspiring. Live performances
of this symphony are relatively rare, but with recordings of
this quality I would highly recommend setting aside the time
every now and again to listen through from beginning to end.
This particular recording has the intensity of a live performance,
with world class playing and a considered interpretation in which
the individual personalities involved in the performance dissolve
into the greater whole of Mahler’s inspiring music. Completely
unmissable.
Carla Rees
Tony Haywood's comparative survey of Mahler 3 recordings
Marjana Lipovsek (alto solo) 
[61:48
+ 37:35] 
