Mahler’s 2nd Symphony
Usher Hall, 2/10/24
Royal Scottish National Orchestra - Thomas Søndergård, conductor
There was a notable frisson of excitement in the air at the Usher Hall on Friday night, as the opening concert of the RSNO’s season consisted of Gustav Mahler’s wonderful 2nd Symphony, ‘The Resurrection’. I have known and loved this symphony since I was at school, when, in the Edinburgh Festival, I heard the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonard Bernstein, with soloists Sheila Armstrong and Janet Baker, play one of the concerts of my life, a performance which was repeated a few months later in Ely Cathedral, and which forms the climax of the recent film about Bernstein, ‘Maestro’.
This performance by Thomas Søndergård and the RSNO, with soloists Julie Roset and Linda Watson, and the RSNO Chorus (augmented with singers from the Edinburgh Festival Chorus), directed by Stephen Doughty, was perhaps not as fine as that over 50 years ago, but was a fabulous start to the 2024/25 season, and augurs well for future concerts.
After the not entirely successful premiere of his First Symphony in 1889, Mahler spent a lot of time working on his second, from 1888 to the first performance in Berlin in 1895. It is hard to imagine the reaction to that first appearance of the symphony - a work unlike any other in the history of classical music, with a colossal orchestra, a full chorus and two vocal soloists. Although not universally loved at the beginning, it established itself as the most popular of all Mahler’s symphonies in his lifetime. This isn’t saying very much, as his music only became hugely popular many years later, since, during his life, he was renowned as a fantastic conductor but an unusual, and rather weird, avant-garde composer, who did the bulk of his composing in his summer holidays, when he was not travelling the world conducting.
Mahler was clear from the very beginning that this symphony followed a loose story, starting with a monumental funeral march for a departed hero, an andante invoking a series of memories of his life, a scherzo movement depicting life as a meaningless whirl, an ethereal fourth movement where the alto soloist pleads for eternal life after the rigours of mortal life, and, following an apocalypse on the Day of Judgement, presaging the horrors of 20th century warfare, the ecstatic joy of resurrection and the fervent hope of eternal, everlasting renewal. The entries of the alto soloist in ‘Urlicht’ and the hushed pianissimo entry of the full chorus on “Aufersteh’n” are two of classical music’s most magical moments, and the majestic final pages are truly awe-inspiring, wonderfully performed here by the RSNO.
As ever, the principals of the various sections of the orchestra played the many exposed solo parts to perfection, and the off-stage brass and percussion in the final movement were terrific. Unfortunately, the two vocal soloists fared less well, particularly as they were stationed in the middle of the orchestra, behind the violins. Their sound was lost to some extent, and most of their words too. In addition, Linda Watson, the American dramatic soprano, who has had a glittering career in opera houses across the world, singing Brünnhilde at Bayreuth, Vienna and numerous other great theatres, is, with the best will in the world, not a mezzo-contralto, the voice for which Mahler specifically wrote Urlicht (Primal Light), the deeply moving song from des Knaben Wunderhorn which forms the 4th movement of the symphony. Similarly, Julie Roset has a nice light soprano voice, but is a relative novice (although inexplicably described in her biography as one of the finest coloratura sopranos of her generation, with debuts in 2023!), and failed to dominate the solo sections.
The RSNO Chorus was in fine voice in the last movement, and Mahler’s extraordinary vision was brought to a dramatic conclusion, as we were all engulfed in the magnificent wash of music which ends this great symphony. Thomas Søndergård presided over a monumental performance, lacking only a bit of space in the mightiest moments, where true Mahlerians like Bernstein or Runnicles stamp their own personalities on this great music.
The Usher Hall was packed out, and I was delighted to see large numbers of younger audience members thoroughly enjoying this truly epic music. The RSNO has become a very fine orchestra indeed, and the outgoing Chair of the Board, Dame Susan Bruce, must be congratulated for steering the orchestra through a really difficult period. Her successor, Gregor Stewart, was there on Friday, and we wish him and everyone involved in our national symphony orchestra well.
