With the Mahler 6th,
Rachmaninoff “The Bells”, Scriabin “Poeme of Ecstasy” and
Carmina Burana in the history books, one might think it is all down
hill now with the 2012-2013 Kansas City Symphony season. But still to
come in May are these incredible, lesser known gems that a serious
concert goer should not miss. Stick around in June for the finale,
the massive Richard Strauss “Eine Alpensinfonie”,
Mahler "Blumine" (1889)
May 17-19, 2013, Asher Fisch
Conducting.
Mahler’s first symphonic essay took a
circuitous route in both form and content before emerging as the
familiar and popular Symphony # 1 in D major.“Blumine” was once a
part of this symphony but was discarded by Mahler after a few
performances. After its rediscovery in 1966, it has occasionally been
performed as a part of the Symphony but more frequently as a separate
piece, as in this case. A little history lesson is in order so as to
understand how this movement disappeared for 70 years.
Mahler first conceived of this work as
“A Symphonic Poem in Two Parts” when it was premiered in Budapest
in 1889. “Blumine” (although not yet labeled as such) was the
second movement of this early form which is recognizable as the First
Symphony but with many differences in orchestration and form. This
performance was not well received so Mahler made some extensive
revisions for a second performance in Hamburg in 1893. Now entitled
“Titan, a Tone Poem in Symphonic Form”, the movement gained the
title “Blumine” (Flowers) and remained as the second movement.
Only a couple of performances were
given of this version before a fouth performance in Berlin in
1896 where Blumine was formally struck from the score. All traces of
the program and the name “Titan” were removed. The work was
published in its current form in 1899 titled Symphony # 1 in D Major.
Blumine remained unperformed and lost
until it was discovered in a copy of an early manuscript donated to
Yale University. Benjamin Britten performed it soon after and the
enterprising New Haven Symphony under conductor Frank Brieff
performed and recorded it, interpolated into the definitive score as
the second movement. Since then, several performances have been given
and recorded of the early Budapest and Hamburg versions.
So what of the music? Mahler biographer
Henry-Louis de La Grange was not too kind:
“There can be no doubt as to the
authorship of ‘Blumine,’ and yet few other arguments can be
stated in its favor. It is the music of a late-nineteenth-century
Mendelssohn, pretty, charming, lightweight, urbane, and repetitious,
just what Mahler’s music never is.”
Frankly, I kind of like the early
versions with Blumine If one enjoys the lovely Adagietto of the
5th Symphony, the short interlude will also come as a
quiet, simple respite among the otherwise emotionally charged
atmosphere of the symphony. I do agree with de La Grange that it is a
bit like Mendelssohn scored with a decidedly late 19th
century palate. However. it looks forward to Mahler’s grander
creations such as the aforementioned 5th Adagietto
and the 3rd’s posthorn serenade.
Several fine recordings of the Symphony
with Blumine are available, most including Blumine as an appendix,
notably Zinman/Zurich Tonhalle on RCA and Neeme Jarvi/Royal Scottish
Orchestra on Chandos. Haydn House, an LP to CD reissue source, has
the original Frank Brieff/New Haven recording, for the most curious.
Brahms/Schoenberg Piano Quartet
(1861, orchestration by Arnold Schoenberg 1937)
May 17-19 Ascher Fisch conducting.
On the same
concert as “Blumine”, Ascher Fisch has programmed another rare
and unusual work, the 1937 orchestration of Brahms' Piano Quartet # 1
in g composed in 1861.
When asked why he
orchestrated this piece Schoenberg replied:
“My reasons: I like the piece. It is
seldom played. It is always very badly played, because, the better
the pianist, the louder he plays and you hear nothing from the
strings. I wanted once to hear everything, and this I achieved.
My intentions: To remain strictly in
the style of Brahms and not to go farther than he himself would have
gone if he lived today. To watch carefully all the laws to which
Brahms obeyed and not to violate them, which are only known to
musicians educated in his environment."
Schoenberg
famously considered Brahms a more “progressive” composer than
Wagner or Liszt and relished Brahms' ability to create a large scale
work or movement with a limited amount of material. Although every
note is Brahms', Schoenberg's orchestration is considerably more
colorful with deft use of percussion and brass. Schoenberg uses this
augmented orchestration to bring out harmonic relationships, motifs
and inner voices that are hidden in the more monochromatic Piano
Quartet version. Schoenberg was a master orchestrator and his jewel
like arrangement really does allow the listener to “hear
everything”. As in the scene where Dorothy wakes up in Oz,
Schoenberg's color brings the work to life.
Robert Craft's
classic recording with the Chicago Symphony is still around on Sony
and Simon Rattle has made a specialty of the piece with both his
Birmingham and Berlin orchestras.
Berg Violin Concerto “To the
Memory of an Angel” (1935)
May 31-June 2 2013 Gil Shaham
Violin, Michael Stern Conducting.
If any work can convince a skeptic that
the twelve-tone school of composers did not always write “ugly
music” it would be this exquisite concerto from 1935. A touching
and glowing instrumental requiem for Manon Gropius, daughter of
Architect Walter Gropius and Mahler's widow Alma, the Violin Concerto
has emerged as Alban Berg's most popular work. It was also his last
completed work.
In contrast to the craggy but colorful
Schoenberg and the minimalist Webern, Berg carefully chose the notes
of his tone row; teeters on the edge of tonality. He also
incorporated fragments from an Austrian folk song and a Bach chorale
that springs almost naturally from his chosen sequence of tone.
Berg conceived his Concerto in two
movements, each then subdivided into two parts. The opening Andante
presents the twelve-tone row on which the concerto is based,
immediately establishing a tonal and contemplative mood. The more
animated second half, marked Allegretto, serves as a scherzo with two
trios and was described by the composer as a portrait of Manon
Gropius. In this section, we hear music associated with the vivacious
young actress including folk dances, waltzes, and even a section that
is to be played “Wienerisch” or Viennese. With the entrance of
the folk song, the movement quickly becomes bitter and colder; death
is approaching.
From this nostalgic and wistful
movement, we plunge into the more dramatic and funereal second. The
allegro first section, which the composer designated “Catastrophe,”
serves as the concerto's dramatic cadenza, building to the work’s
climax. After the shattering climax, the work relaxes in a mood of
resignation. Berg quotes a Bach chorale “Es ist genug,” (It is
Enough) from his cantata O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort ( Eternity, you
thundering word), a cantata of farewell and acceptance of death.
The conclusion, marked “Deliverance,”
develops the chorale theme into a rhapsodic “Requiem for Manon”.
Themes from earlier sections are quoted, reflecting times past.
There are many great recordings of this
work to choose from, starting with the 1936 live broadcast with the
original soloist Louis Krasner with Anton Webern conducting the BBC
SO. Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zuckerman, Itzhak Perlman and Gidon Kremer
have all had turns at the work, all recommended.
As a bonus,
Maestro Stern has selected American composer Carl Ruggles’ brief
yet haunting “Angels” for muted brass to open the evening. This
strange, ephemeral work blends brilliantly with the mood and tone of
the Berg. A fine piece of programming.
