It was definitely an 'event', and thus I could easily write a book about it. By and large, I really liked it. But it definitely had some 'issues' as well.
Anyway, if you open the attachment that Steele has provided, you'll see that they used four harps. What you can't see is that the offstage brass was much larger in numbers than usual. I didn't bother to count, but I think that the offstage brass might have been tripled - at least doubled, anyway. They sounded great!
Before the concert, I was concerned about the organ. I didn't need to be, as it was probably The loudest organ I've ever heard in my life. It was great for sustaining the large chords, but was actually too loud for much of the soft organ writing in Part I. However, the voicing that the organist found during the orchestral interlude in Part II sounded just right (high strings, harmonium, harps and - eventually -some woodwinds). I think that some of the problem might have been that the organ was getting sucked into the hanging mikes for the Meyer sound system. I suspect that it is probably a very old organ, and so I think that the organist had a fight on his hands to control it, and to find the right voicings when he had to make quick changes.
It will probably be debated forever whether they were using the Meyer sound system or not. I'm convinced that they were. The hanging mikes were right over the woodwinds and horns - who had Not been doubled - and I heard details from the woodwinds that I had NEVER heard before. The 9 horns (8 plus an assistant) were terrific, and the principal horn had an absolutely fantastic night. In fact, he never let his assistant take ANY of the solos. None of the brass had been doubled except for the tuba (2 tubas, in other words). In combining the two orchestras, it was entirely the strings that were expanded in numbers. That looked crazy to me at first, but made total sense when considering just how wide the stage was (actually, the strings were on platforms that extended over the first four rows of seats). Sometimes the strings were a little too prominent in relation to everything else. But it was nice to hear so much of the cello and double bass writing.
We were about half-way up the balcony, so we had a very difficult time seeing the soloists who had been placed at the edge of the stage (they did project them onto large video screens). Because they were way in front of the hanging mikes, they were not being picked up by the Meyer system. If you ever wanted to hear a "music minus one" Mahler 8th, this was it! I think it would have worked far better if they had placed the soloists between the orchestra and the huge choral forces. Perhaps this wouldn't have been such an issue if you were seated towards the front. By and large, the soloists were pretty good.
The first soprano, Julianna Di Giacomo, was fabulous. She did a great job on her final solo near the end of Part II - the one where she sings about Faust entering into the light of a 'new day'. That was followed by the offstage solo of Kiera Duffy, and that was one of the truly weird things: they had her positioned over in the right offstage balcony (opposite the brass) - on a pedestal, mind you - WAY before her solo, and had placed a sort of soft colored light upon her. She was wearing a slinky gold colored dress - and with a figure to die for! - and a head of lovely blonde hair. I immediately thought of a blonde Ava Gardner in "One Touch of Venus". All I could figure is that they were going heavily into the symbolism of it all. I truly wonder what Ms. Duffy thought of it.
The tenor, Burkhard Fritz, sounded very good but also quite small. It turned out that he was deliberately holding back because of a head cold (according to today's L.A. Times review). Even when these singers were going full bore - such as the Wagnerian sounding baritone and bass-baritone solos in Part II - it was difficult to hear them clearly. My guess is that they'll be much more clear on the February 18 M8 movie-cast from Caracas (those are being shown at selected AMC Theaters).
Dudamel's conducting of M8 was quite direct and generally on the quick side (one exception was the beginning passage of Part II). Considering the size of the forces - as well as some of the issues in taming the organ - I think Part I might have gone a bit better if Dudamel had just taken it a tiny notch or two slower. For me, the whole performance really caught fire from the bass-baritone solo in Part II, and continued right on to the end. The Mendelssohn-like passages for the children and women's voices were terrific in Part II, as well the linking orchestral interlude I mentioned above. Dudamel took the passages for the penitent women a bit quicker than I had anticipated, but all of the female soloists did a real good job (still a tad hard to hear them though). Needless to say, the concluding "blicket auf" and "Chorus Mysticus" passages were terrific. For my taste, Dudamel could have been just a tad slower for the orchestral postlude.
This was an event like no other I've ever attended. Considering that probably almost nobody in the entire house had performed in the acoustically challenged Shrine Auditorium before, I think that everybody did a really good job for a 'one-off' performance of such a massive work. In spite of the numbers involved, the choral forces were surprisingly disciplined. I think it would have helped if more of those numbers had been children instead of adults, but that's a small gripe for certain (Mahler's 1910 premiere had hundreds of children involved).
I was astounded to learn that the entire cast - except the choirs - were immediately boarding jets for Caracas after the concert. There, they will perform the entire Mahler cycle again, and with the above mentioned movie-cast of the 8th happening on February 18. The two orchestras do spell each other off (except for the 8th), but Dudamel must be ready to just drop dead. I'm told that he had conducted the entire L.A. cycle from memory!
Please feel free to ask questions.
Topic: Los Angeles M8 "Symphony of 1,017" (Read 4785 times)