OVERNIGHT REVIEW: Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony at Walt Disney Concert Hall

By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News
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Simón Bolivár Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela; Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection)
Sunday, January 22, 2012 • Walt Disney Concert Hall
Next performance: Tomorrow at 8 p.m.
Mahler: Symphony No. 3; Dudamel and SBSOV
Information: www.laphil.com
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I doubt that words (at least my words) can adequately describe what happened last night at Walt Disney Concert Hall … which won’t prevent me from trying!

Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection) has a way of rendering listeners speechless. Part of it is the sheer audacity that one man could actually write such a monumental piece of music: 90 minutes (almost to the second last night), five movements dealing with death, resurrection and plenty in between. Six years transpired between the time Mahler began the piece and completed it. He struggled to find inspiration for every movement beyond the first. He didn’t find his way in the final movement until he attended the funeral of conductor Hans von Bulow.

Assembling the forces that Mahler called for is a huge undertaking for any organization. Among other things, the score calls for 10 (!) horns, 6 trumpets, 2 harps, organ, a large percussion section that includes three timpanists playing two sets of tympani, two soloists and a large chorus (last night 92 members of the Los Angeles Master Chorale).

For this performance — part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s “Mahler Project” — the Simón Bolivár Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela bulged the stage with more than 150 musicians, which included 12 basses (stretched to the back of the stage), 17 cellos and more violins and violas than I could count. The percussionists were so crammed together that the cymbals player had to be careful not to KO the bass drummer. In the midst of all of them was a cameraman focusing on Gustavo Dudamel transmitting to an offstage band that includes brass and timpani.

The SBSOV is the flagship ensemble of Venezuela’s “El Sistema” music education program (it used to be called the SB “Youth” SOV but many of the “youth” have stayed on to play as the orchestra has gained international renown during the past decade). Nonetheless, most of the musicians appeared to still be very young (the group’s bio says the ages are between 18 and 28).

Dudamel has been the group’s music director for 13 years (since age 18) and he clearly has a special relationship with the musicians. For one thing, his conducting style seems different with the SBSOV than with the LA Phil; the responses of the “kids” to his downbeats seemed almost delayed although in nearly all cases they were razor-sharp. The strings had a lean sound, the brass gleamed throughout the performance and the winds were striking. When playing all out, they could storm heaven (there’s lots of that in this symphony) but in tender moments they could achieve breathtaking pianissimos. Although not quite as polished as the Phil, this is an exemplary orchestra, especially considering the age of its members.

Conducting without a score (an amazing feat in itself, although he’s not the only conductor to do so), Dudamel began with stately tempos that began to broaden out as the second pass at the opening statement unfolded. At the end of the first movement, Dudamel ignored what program annotator John Henken says are Mahler’s “firm instructions to pause for at least five minutes before launching the Andante.” Dudamel waited two minutes, just long enough for latecomers to climb into their seats, the orchestra to retune, and the two soloists to come onstage.

Dudamel took the Andante, which is cast in the form of an Austrian Ländler (folk dance), deliberately in contrast to the third movement, which he led with a brisk, almost jaunty air. Mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn sang the fourth movement, Urlicht (Primal Light), with rich tones and great sensitivity, and her duet with the principal oboe was exquisite. The marvelously soft ending made the transition to the final movement all the more shattering.

Dudamel was at his most compelling leading the 40-minute-long final movement with its Gross Appell (Great Call) from offstage brass that eventually leads to the chorus, which sang their hushed opening lines, Aufersteh'n, ja aufersteh'n (Rise again, yet rise again), while seated. Dudamel had all the men of the Master Chorale in the middle surrounded by the female sections and the resultant tone had a deeply rich ring to it. Soprano Miah Persson joined her radiant voice with Stotijn and, with the chorus now on its feet and the Disney Hall organ adding impressive heft, the finale was a majestic, glorious celebration of resurrection and eternal life.

In his erudite preconcert lecture, Gilbert Kaplan described Mahler as a conductor who demanded that his orchestras treat every performance as an unparalleled event, that everything be so compelling that the audience would leave walking on air. Dudamel and the musicians complied and the audience responded with a thunderous — and well deserved — standing ovation that lasted 10 minutes and would have gone on longer if Dudamel had not led the musicians off the stage. After all, in less than 48 hours, they will back for Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, which is even longer than the second!
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Hemidemisemiquavers:
• Although it’s cold and flu season (and there was occasional hacking to be heard) there were also many moments when the hall was so silent that even breathing was muted,; it’s part of what makes the Disney Hall acoustics so special.
• Kaplan’s hour-long preconcert lecture was well attended; there were many more people in the hall than for Friday night’s concert talk. It was obvious many had not attended the Symphony No. 1+10 concert lecture because Kaplan’s opening “Peanuts” cartoon and punch line that Peppermint Patty had been “Mahlered” got a big laugh (again). Although some of the material was “resurrected” from the earlier talk, this was another informative and well-delivered lecture, with good graphics and musical selections.
• Both Kaplan lectures had been open to those not attending the concerts but the Phil’s management could not say how many people took advantage of the offer.
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(c) Copyright 2012, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.