Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral’, and Stravinsky
Strathpeffer Pavilion, 5/5/24
The Mahler Players, Tomas Leakey, conductor
The Mahler Players are a musical jewel in the Highlands. Since their foundation in 2013 by their conductor, Tomas Leakey, they have been putting on high quality performances at least twice a year in Inverness and Strathpeffer. Although they are not a professional orchestra, no-one should question the professionalism of the musicians, many of whom are music professionals in other settings, such as teaching.
The programme this afternoon began with a Stravinsky double bill; first a short concerto ‘Dumbarton Oaks’, a name which became famous as the venue for preparatory talks on the founding of the United Nations, but yes it does have a Scottish connection, as the house of that name was given by Queen Anne as a gift to a Scottish exile, who named it after his home town in Scotland. It’s a lively little concerto played by a small chamber orchestra and is quite sweet and not at all like some of Stravinsky’s earlier works. Given that it was commissioned as a thirtieth wedding anniversary present for the then owners of Dumbarton Oaks, that is understandable!
The second Stravinsky work was the orchestral suite of his ballet ‘Pulcinella’, which was famously commissioned by Diaghilev of the Ballet Russes with choreography and principal dancer Leonard Massine and stage designs by Picasso. Premiered in Paris in 1920 it has become one of the fixtures in the ballet world and its music has become familiar. Played by a much bigger range of musicians it gave great scope for some virtuosi performances from some of the Mahler players.
After some pastoral ramblings in the interval we were treated to what many regard as one of Beethoven’s greatest works, his sixth symphony also known as the ‘Pastoral’. I’m writing this review on May 7th and am reminded this is a real Beethoven weekend. Tonight is the 200th anniversary of the first performance of Beethoven’s final symphony, the Ninth which may well be his greatest work and is now the official anthem of the European Union. Indeed tonight it will be played by 4 different orchestras across Europe and this will be available online. Tomas Leakey in his notes tells us that the Sixth was performed at another famous concert much earlier on December 22 in 1808 in Vienna. The concert also premiered the Fifth Symphony and several other works, lasting over 4 hours on a freezing Vienna night and he notes “the evening was not a great success”!
Fortunately our 2-hour concert was much less demanding and was a great success, greatly appreciated by the sold-out audience in the Strathpeffer Pavilion. The Sixth symphony is an expression of Beethoven’s love of country life which he enjoyed in his little village on the edge of Vienna, Heiligenstadt, which I visited last year and where one of several Beethoven museum is now based. The different movements evoke different sounds of the country: birdsong, a running brook and highly dramatic, Alpine-style, thunderstorm, each interpreted with spirit and skill by the Mahler musicians. This music, maybe better than any other, captures the human reaction to the countryside: the enjoyment of spring, the sociability of the villagers, the drama of the storm and the joyful peace of the calm that follows the storm. Tomas Leakey was very much in charge of the orchestra and brought out the beauty of the music. We were fortunate on this May afternoon to be able to leave the concert to travel home through the lovely countryside around Strathpeffer – a truly lovely ‘pastoral’ Sunday afternoon.
