Schwarz/Seattle Symphony Orch. Mahler Sixth concert tonight

[John Kim]

I will be at the Benaroya Hall around 6:45 p.m.

I heard Schwarz conducting the orchestra in the same program several years ago (in Seattle) and was very impressed with the level of energy and polish he brought into the piece. It was a fast and exciting Mahler Sixth. The Scherzo was the best I had ever heard; there were details in the brass that I never noticed before, the Finale loud but very powerful. All in all, it was one of highlights of their on going Mahler cycle. They have completed all the symphonies except for the Eighth symphony, but the 2008-2009 season will start with Mahler Eighth!

The concert will open with an excerpt from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde with soprano Jane Eaglen singing.

Regards,

John,

[John Kim]

The concert went really well. However, there were two surprises. First, Schwarz put the Andante second, Scherzo third. Second, he opted for three hammer blows. You all know that I am not an advocate of the A-S order, so as soon as I heard the first note of the Andante after the first movt. my mind was let down. It also affected the way they played the two movements; the Scherzo which in early 200 sounded awesome with dramatic contrasts and full of local effects, was rather plain this time. Perhaps they realized it doesn't have to be extremely contrasted coming after the Andante and hence didn't play it that hard. But the slow movt. was wonderful with many lyrical passages well phrased. The Finale was good too, but once again I was longing for their old performance which had a tad more discipline and a higher level of execution. It's possible that reaching the end of their season the orchestra didn't have much time to rehearse, whereas back in 2001 the concert occurred in the middle of the season.

Timings were like,

22 min.
15 min.
12.5 min.
28 min.

Overall, a very enjoyable performance. But my fond memory of the same team's superior effort a couple years ago was not erased.

John,

[barry guerrero]

I prefer A/S, but I just don't feel that it's nearly as important an issue as that of tempo. It's interesting to note that the estimated timings that are printed on the conductor's score indicate 14 minutes for the andante movement, and 11 for the scherzo. That's pretty fast, especially the scherzo. I presume that those estimates came from Mahler himself, but perhaps not. Anyway, at least Schwarz didn't drag the two inner movements, as so many conductors do these days.

I still contend that some recorded performances work better in A/S, while others work better in S/A. I feel that the MTT/SFSO M6 definitely works better when switched into A/S order. As a matter of fact, MTT now performs it that way. I also feel that the Karajan M6 works better when played back A/S. Conversely, I like Abbado's Berlin M6 better when it's switched to S/A order, greatly because the end of his first movement is nearly identical to the start of his scherzo, in terms of tempo. Anyway, you get the idea. To me, it's still very much a finale driven symphony.

Barry

[sperlsco]

I prefer A/S, ...

Barry

Bite your tongue!!!  Have you gone over to the dark side?   

When Graf and the Houston Symphony performed M6 two seasons ago, I was a little worried about which order he would perform the inner movements.  I am used to automatically reprogramming my CD player to S-A, but did not figure that I could push any combination of buttons to change a live performance.  After a perfectly felt first movement, I was thrilled to hear the timpani pound out the beginning of the scherzo!!  The performance was the best classical concert experience of my life so far.  I wonder what my reaction to the rest of it would have been if the Andante was placed second, though.   

[John Kim]

I prefer A/S, ...

Barry

Bite your lip!!!  Have you gone over to the dark side?   

When Graf and the Houston Symphony performed M6 two seasons ago, I was a little worried about which order he would perform the inner movements.  I am used to automatically reprogramming my CD player to S-A, but did not figure that I could push any combination of buttons to change a live performance.  After a perfectly felt first movement, I was thrilled to hear the timpani pound out the beginning of the scherzo!!  The performance was the best classical concert experience of my life so far.  I wonder what my reaction to the rest of it would have been if the Andante was placed second, though.   

My ears were half turned off upon hearing the beginning soft note of Andante after the first movt. 

John,