The VNSO Mahler cycle continued with the Vietnamese first performance of M8, which was carried off very successfully at the large auditorium of the National Convention Center in My Dinh, Hanoi, on Saturday night.
The audience was greeted with the colorful appearance of the choirs: Vietnamese ladies in elegant Ao Dai, Malaysian adults and children in traditional national dress, a few scattered Japanese kimonos, some European traditional garb, and the Vietnamese children wearing their Ho Chi Minh Youth League uniforms, complete with red neckties.
Maestro Tetsuji Honna brought the baton down on the Vietnamese National Anthem (also sung by the choir) while people were still streaming into the hall, undoubtedly due to the exigencies of the national TV coverage.
Overall ensemble throughout the performance was excellent, despite Honna’s very brisk tempos in some passages (I was told later that the total timing was about 75:00, including a 3 minute break between movements). This was a particular challenge to the choirs in part 1’s ‘double fugue' section (from “Hostem repellas…”), but we were up to the task.
The ambience in the auditorium was a bit dry and deadening, but the sound files that my wife captured on her I-phone were impressive enough. A few of the solo vocalists had trouble projecting themselves (they were placed behind the orchestra). Mater Gloriosa and the offstage brass worked effectively in the upper left and right balconies. The orchestra played very well, and the (slightly under-manned) children did a great job after many difficulties in rehearsal.
As for our bass section in Choir II, I thought we did really well in part I. We ran into a few shaky spots in part II. The very beginning of part II where the tenors and basses are in dialogue (from “Felsen, sie schwankt heran” was a bit tentative. Although we are very exposed there and might have had a bit of the stage jitters, even during rehearsals we could never quite get on the same page with Honna as regards tempo and rhythm in that section. The single ‘train wreck’ on our part was at rehearsal figure 80 (tenors and basses with “Die ew’ge Liebe nur”) where the sections got off track and also ran afoul of a ritardando implemented by Honna at that point (hopefully he was one of the few people who noticed!). We were situated just behind the piano, harmonium, and organ (and excellent tam-tam). It was great to hear those parts so clearly. The amp system for the electric organ was a big problem though, as I was told later that a frequent and annoying feedback buzz was audible in the hall (although I couldn’t hear it).
The conclusions of both parts were nailed beautifully and we received appreciative applause from the audience, which included the U.S. and Austrian ambassadors. Speaking of the audience, the auditorium, while admittedly quite large, was at best only two-thirds full for what was a national première. Many of the attendees were from the international community, and many comp tickets had been distributed. Somewhat inexplicably, a competing ballet performance at the Opera House was also taking place at exactly the same time. This once again raises the question of whether Vietnam is really fertile ground for Mahler’s music. Without outside sponsorship (mainly Japanese), it is questionable whether the event could even have taken place. I have to admire the months of preparation and rehearsals that went into the effort; certainly the necessary forces were deployed, everyone knew their roles and responsibilities, and we did Mahler proud. But was it really worth the all time, effort, and expense for a single one-off performance? Whatever the impact nationally, I am sure that most of us among the roughly 650 performers will never forget the experience.
The program booklet was by far the best produced in the VNSO’s Mahler cycle to date, with the exception of the sadly politicized ‘greetings letter’ from the Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism. The simple, single sentence which appeared on page 1 was much more appropriate:
“Let’s pray for peace and commemorate the late composer Gustav Mahler.”
Mike Bosworth
Hanoi
Topic: Vietnam Première of M8 this coming Saturday (Read 8495 times)