RECORDING OF THE MONTH
Gustav MAHLER (1860-1911)
Symphony No. 9 (1909/10) [80.45]
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Mariss Jansons
rec: Live 20/21 October 2016, Philharmonie, Munich, Germany
BR KLASSIK 900151 [80:45]
The BR Klassik label released a live recording of Symphonieorchester
des Bayerischen Rundfunks performing Mahler Symphony No. 9 as recently as
2012, when Bernard Haitink was the conductor in an outstanding account (review).
Now on this live 2016 recording of Mahler 9 with the same orchestra, its chief
conductor Mariss Jansons takes the baton for an outstanding account.
Undoubtedly impacting greatly on the conception of the score, Mahler’s
personal circumstances of the period prior to the composition of the Ninth
make striking reading. In 1907 Mahler’s oldest daughter Putzi died from
diphtheria; after a campaign against him he resigned from his post as director
of the Vienna Court Opera and was diagnosed with a heart condition. These
traumatic events resulted in a creative impasse for a time. Subsequently Mahler
began preparing sketches for the Ninth in the summer of 1909 whilst holidaying
in the South Tyrol at Toblach. The spectre of Beethoven and other composers
dying after composing their ninth symphony lay heavy on Mahler. He employed
a ruse, an attempt to deceive fate, that this D major Symphony was not actually
the ninth to be written by stating that the symphonic song cycle Das Lied
von der Erde (The Song of the Earth) from 1907/08 was actually his ninth.
Mahler completed his score in New York in the spring of 1910, only to die
a few months later in May 1911. The posthumous première was given under Bruno
Walter and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in June 1912. Mahler 9 is an
intriguing and greatly rewarding score; a work of farewell steeped in introspection
and is sometimes regarded as the composer’s own personal Requiem.
With masterly control Jansons takes the remarkable opening movement Andante
comodo with what feels like just the right degree of forward momentum
and dramatic tension. Jansons’ interpretation starkly contrasts the
writing of an idyllic sense of bucolic contentment to world weary acquiescence
with occasional glimpses of apocalyptic terror. In the bittersweet second
movement Scherzo the contrasting moods are astutely emphasised. On
the surface things are unified by the unremitting dance rhythms of two different
pairs of waltzes and Ländler. I was struck by how the music gets
increasingly frantic and contorted before fading way into the distance. The
adeptness of Jansons’ confident direction is commendable, as is the
orchestra’s responsive playing. The shifting moods of the Rondo-Burleske
are suitably underlined and frequently driven to extremes by Jansons. Mahler’s
writing seems tongue in cheek, from the trivial often popular melodies to
the chilling and grotesque. Marked by Jansons’ robust forward momentum
only a number of brief dream-like episodes provide a modicum of relief from
the near mayhem of sound. The Finale: Adagio contains no
more passages of disdain and mockery. This is serene, incandescent music reflecting
Mahler’s intense personal introspection, interpreted with a high level
of inspiration and sense of total involvement. Jansons’ Bavarian strings
provide a blanket of sublime sound of a searing intensity. Emotionally everything
seems almost too hard to bear. As with the finest performances the final pages
feel like a depiction of a stage in life between actual death and the soul
ascending into heaven.
Jansons’ account with the Philharmonie, Munich is fairly closely recorded,
with good clarity, presence and satisfying balance. On this live recording
there is very little extraneous audience noise and no applause has been left
in. Nicely presented, the release has a helpful essay in the booklet titled
The Song of Farewell by Jörg Handstein.
Mahler 9 is certainly a score that has inspired a number of excellent recordings.
Of the older recordings, the one I have found the most consistently satisfying
is Sir John Barbirolli conducting the Berliner Philharmoniker on EMI Classics.
Barbirolli made the 1964 recording in the marvellous acoustic of the Jesus-Christus-Kirche,
Dahlem, Berlin. This was a time when the Berliner Philharmoniker had no real
tradition of performing Mahler and Barbirolli was in effect re-introducing
Mahler to the orchestra. In 1979 Leonard Bernstein conducted the Berliner
Philharmoniker for his first and only time. As Mahler was a composer close
to Bernstein’s heart he selected Mahler 9 to play at the Philharmonie
as part of the Berlin Festival and was granted more than the usual number
of rehearsals. Bernstein gave a compelling, intensely felt live performance
and thankfully the Berlin RIAS tape of the concert has been released on Deutsche
Grammophon. Claudio Abbado’s recording with the Berliner Philharmoniker
was produced at live concerts in 1999 from the Philharmonie, Berlin. On Deutsche
Grammophon Abbado’s interpretation is insightful with much fine detail
and beautifully played too, without that bottom heavy sound that Karajan previously
established with the orchestra. Attractively shaped and inherently spontaneous
in feel is the strikingly played account by Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner
Philharmoniker. Rattle recorded the score live in 2007 at the Philharmonie,
Berlin on EMI Classics. A recording that seems to get better and better with
each hearing is from the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under
Rafael Kubelik, then the orchestra’s chief conductor, on Audite. Recorded
live on tour in 1975 at Tokyo, Japan, Kubelik exercises splendid control over
the overall shape of the score and one senses a real empathy with the composer.
Mentioned earlier Bernard Haitink’s 2012 account with Symphonieorchester
des Bayerischen Rundfunks was recorded live at the Herkulessaal, Munich. This
is a compelling and deeply perceptive account from Haitink that can rank alongside
the finest recordings of the work (on BR Klassik).
A great Mahlerian in my view, Mariss Jansons here directs a memorable live
account of Mahler 9, drawing stunning playing of considerable intensity from
his Bavarian orchestra. Immaculately prepared, as usual, I admire Jansons’
masterly control of tempo, dynamic and scale. Beautifully recorded too at
the Philharmonie, Munich this BR Klassik release will feature prominently
in my Mahler collection.
Michael Cookson
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