I just went to this concert this afternoon:
http://nso.ntch.edu.tw/program/detail/id/181It was a hit and miss for me. Out of 10 I would give 7. This symphony is defenitely taxing for many orchestras and this afternoon's concert is a living proof. The orchestra played well as a pro ensemble, but there were a few (just a few) wrong notes through out the performance, especially the brass section. The most noticeable moments were the posthorn section and the last few minutes of the finale. Still, the stars of the performance were the horns.
On the other hand, the percussion and woodwind sections could have been more aggressive.
Of course, commiting a few mistakes during a performance of such demanding piece is expectable, and forgivable. The main problem is that the performance as the whole was quite "conservative", for the lack of better word(well "Mahler-lite" is probably the right one). Over all it was quite a lyrical interpretation, somewhere between Bertini and Kubelik; but probably because of the conductor, or the reserve nature of Asian people, or both; the climaxes and wild parts during the first and third movements fell short. The SouthStorm section is the case in point: the percussion including the timpani did not go for it, just hit the notes as indicated, and that's all. Not impressed.
The 2 and 3 movements were fine, except the aforementioned posthorn that cracked a little.
I liked the alto. I think she nailed the misterious and the "natchmusik" feel of the movement. The fifth movement was quite standard, nothing exceptional. Now here is the finale. It was a swift one, no more than 22 minutes. I have no problem with fast finales since I like the Tennstedt one so much. But if this movement make you feel rushed, then something is wrong. The last 2 crescendos in the last section were so rushed that I felt they just wanted to wrap things up, especially the ending. To say the ending was anticlimatic is a understatement, and it is defenitely the conductor's fault. Maybe he had Kubelik's live M3 on Audite in mind? I don't know, but for whatever reason, it didn't work.
Overall this performnace only gets a 7 due to the rushed finale. Some curious points though:
1. The conductor was very animated on the podium and even rocket-jumped a couple of times, as if possessed by Bernstein. Unfortunately that did not translate into music. And....
2. ....he conducted batonless during the second movement.
3. The chorus ensembles were dominated by ladies, which means the children chorus were mostly girls. Now here is something I need some clarifications from seasoned Mahler nuts: Usually a boy chorus is employed for the Bim Bams AFAIK, so I wonder if it is unusual that the conductor preferred a girl chorus for live performance? Because I always have in mind that Mahler demanded a boy chorus for this movement.
This is my very first critical concert review. Thanks for reading.
