with Christian Gerhaher; Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal conducted by Kent Nagano
‘A symphony must be like the world. It must contain
everything’.
When discussing Mahler this quote is never far from my mind.
The quote comes from a conversation between Mahler and Sibelius, both of them
great symphonists but different in so many ways. Sibelius viewed the symphony
as the apotheosis of form, a concentration of organic unity and above all the
music was about nothing but itself. By contrast, Mahler viewed the symphony as
a grand statement, taking on huge philosophical ideas. His symphonies are all-encompassing and deal with many facets of life. However, the symphonies are
only one aspect of Mahler’s genius; his complexity as an artist can only be
fully appreciated when one listens the songs in addition to the
symphonies. The songs help to explain the thematic origins
of the symphonies and also deepen understanding of his symphonic works.
The three groups of songs appear on this new disc by baritone Christian Gerhaher, with Kent Nagano and the Montreal Symphony
Orchestra. One could hear the disc as a travelogue - it takes us on a journey
turning from naïve sentimentality to cynicism in the first song cycle on the
disc (lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, often translated as ‘songs of the
wayfarer’). We then enter the realm of the morbid ‘kindertotenlieder’
(songs on the death of children). These songs are a reminder of Mahler’s
preoccupation with mortality, and portray the anxiety of parenthood and
the unconditional love of the parent/child relationship. This cycle is an
internal journey from grief and doubt to comfort and eternal love. Finally, the disc ends with not a cycle but a group of songs
inspired by the poetry of Friedrich Ruckert (1788-1866). These songs are
contemporary with the fifth symphony, a period of great creativity in Mahler’s
life. As is evident in the fifth symphony it was also a time when Mahler had
been studying the scores of Bach, resulting in an increased density and
contrapuntal complexity in his own music. One famous setting in this group of
‘Ruckert songs’ is ‘Um mitternacht’ (At midnight). It depicts the lonely
nocturnal thoughts of a person in turmoil and deals with isolation and self
analysis. The orchestration starts out very sparse, just a rocking, sighing
motive in clarinets, then a deep brass descending scale. It sounds lonely,
isolated. It eventually arrives at resignation and spiritual fulfillment. You
may notice a common thread - Mahler is always travelling from one state to
another, the listener is always taken from one place and ends up in a different
place. In the symphonies it is a large scale, slow process. In the songs it is
over a shorter time period and the process is far more explicit.
The performances on this new disc are very fine indeed. I think
you would have to go back to Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau to find performances of a
similar calibre. Gerhaher has a beautiful tone, made even more focused by his
lack of vibrato. This results in a very expressive reading. Please listen to
this and then try to resist buying it!
