Above : Adriam Hallam played the obligato horn solo in Mahler’s Symphony No 5. Featured image : Conductor Sarah-Grace Williams and TMO
The Metropolitan Orchestra triumphed with their choice of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony to occupy the entire Met Concert Four. Interpreting and delivering convincing Mahler is a challenging rite of passage for any developed orchestra. It is especially poignant that TMO delivered this symphony so well during its tenth anniversary year.
Such an undertaking comes in a busy year which has already seen this orchestra’s members perform three Met Concerts, entertain families in the first of cushion concerts and perform in Sydney and on tour with Air Supply, Basement Jaxx and recently Joy Division.
Despite such a continued diversity of musical activity and hectic routine, conductor Sarah-Grace Williams and huge orchestra displayed great stamina and a relentless intellectual clarity when navigating their most recent stylistic shift to Mahler’s demanding voice.
The technical demands on any orchestra attempting to play Mahler were admirably conquered here. There was much room and energy left for Mahler’s emotional saturation, with keen chameleon changes of mood, gesture and nuance. Contrasts within each of the sprawling five movements and across the work possessed a crisp cutting edge. The temptation of overplaying was always replaced by the creation of interesting blend and careful balance across the detailed canvas.
The intensity of Mahler’s musical and sound-effect narrative in the hands of TMO was tautly wound. It was a very rewarding listening experience without interval for many assembled given the rare chance to hear this work live in Sydney.
This composer’s fearless flux of textural, rhythmic and thematic extremes needs an equally fearless army of interpreters. TMO had these in its extended ranks, supplying measured and expressive work from individual sections and soloists. Such talent was in evidenced from the opening, with the first movement’s Funeral March heralded by well-placed and eloquent trumpet declamations from Alfie Carslake.
Such an opening set an assertive but lyrical tone for all TMO brass players to follow. This crucial instrumental section for this work constantly succeeded in crowning the layers of sound throughout. All climaxes however fleeting or substantial owed much to the colours supplied by this group, as did the organic growth towards this work’s emotional peaks.
Mahler’s second movement, often labelled as a true opening, was launched with a fantastic growl by the formidable cellists of TMO. This opening was one of the many examples of short, sharp contrasts successfully painted by a section of the orchestra before moving back into the blend.
This performance always featured a vibrant conversation across TMO using Mahler’s musical text. The orchestra spoke often via a sequence of massive fanfares, climaxes, interjections and inimitable filigree.
Watching the large orchestra we followed clarinets and horns held up boldly in the air for resonance, with a mass of strings laying down reiterations and accompaniments adroitly. The troupe of percussion adding so many colours to the precise outbursts. The contrast between such obvious drama and more subtle sensitivity was the true highlight of this interpretation.
In this way, Sarah-Grace Williams’ tempo and character choice of the Scherzo third movement brought a more relaxed lilt to the tapestry over which Adrian Hallam’s obligato horn lines could weave its diverse discussion. A myriad of accent and emotion was presented by this horn player’s controlled and eloquent phrasing.
Hallam’s finely nuanced utterances were well supported by the remainder of the orchestra. There was particularly exquisite gentleness of phrasing in the horn part which combined with beautifully shaped lines in the cellos.
Mahler’s ‘declaration of love’ in the fourth Adagietto movement was a powerful highlight of this concert. It was great advertisement for the skill of TMO strings’ edge-of-the-seat restrained playing with a beautifully measured contribution from harpist Kate Maloney. It demonstrated both the composer’s huge expressive range and TMO’s technical expertise, both never divorced from a sheer beauty of communication.
Few adjectives adequately describe the quality of stillness and subtle movement this version of the Adagietto offered. It was enough to make the listener fall in love all over again with the expressive power of Mahler and TMO.
This exciting event was a very special one for TMO and all assembled. Hopefully such an interpretation of such a giant from the orchestral literature by such an emerging giant in our musical landscape will be recorded and distributed for posterity.
