Philadelphia Orchestra Plays Mahler

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Wednesday, 24 April 2024 14:40

Written by Jack Angstreich

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the Philadelphia Orchestra. Photo by Chris Lee.

At Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium on the evening of Friday, April 12th, I had the immense pleasure of attending a fabulous concert presented by the extraordinary musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra under the inspired direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

The marvelous first half of the program was a superb selection of songs by Alma Mahler—the first four of her Fünf Lieder, beautifully orchestrated by Colin and David Matthews—gloriously performed by the outstanding mezzo-soprano, Karen Cargill. The first of these, “The Silent Town,” is set to a poem by Richard Dehmel; it begins lugubriously, but is ultimately exalting. The second, “In My Father’s Garden,” to a lyric by Otto Erich Hartleben, has a charming, even carefree ethos. The third song, “Warm Summer Night,” conveys intimations of rapture, and the final one, “With You I Feel at Ease,” after a text by Rainer Maria Rilke, is quietly enchanting. The artists—and the singer especially—received enthusiastic applause.

At least equally memorable was the second half of the event, an amazing rendition of Gustav Mahler’s magnificent, seldom played, Symphony No. 7. In a letter, the composer described it as “my best work and predominantly of a cheerful character.” The Adagio introduction to the first movement, with its brass fanfares, has a Wagnerian quality; the main body of the movement, marked Allegro risoluto, ma non troppo, which accelerates to an almost frantic pace at times, closes joyously and triumphantly. The first “Night Music” movement that follows, an Allegro moderato, becomes march-like and then dance-like; there are pastoral elements here and it ends softly but unexpectedly. The ensuing Scherzo, marked Shadowy, displays a queerer sensibility, with a brisk, propulsive rhythm; it has an almost exaggerated character and also finishes abruptly. The second “Night Music” movement that succeeds it, an Andante amoroso, is more subdued; nonetheless, it seems moderately playful, even eccentric, and contains some of the loveliest passages in the score, as well as some passionate moments, and it concludes gently, even ethereally. The Rondo-Finale is exuberant and exhilarating, although with some more restrained interludes, and it closes stunningly and exultantly. The audience deservedly rewarded the ensemble with a standing ovation.

The Philadelphia Orchestra will return to Carnegie Hall on April 30th.

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