Recordings > Choral and Song
MAHLER:
Symphony No. 2, "Resurrection"
Kenny, van Nes; London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, Tennstedt. Text and Translation. LPO-0044
There's really nothing that needs to be said about this performance, except that everyone should hear it, but then there would be nothing to read. Anybody who lived in Minnesota in the 1970s, or who heard Fidelio at the Met in 1983, or who lived in London in the 1980s knew that a visit from Klaus Tennstedt was likely to raise the game of the local orchestra, and that a memorable musical and emotional experience would ensue. This live Mahler Second was recorded with the London Philharmonic in 1989, two years after ill health had forced Tennstedt to step down as the orchestra's principal conductor. He died in 1998.
Tennstedt was a master of the art of gradual modification of tempo, but in this performance, in the third movement, he shows what a shocking interpretive choice it can be when music is locked into an unyielding strict tempo, especially in relation to other sections where the tempo is drawn out elastically. The string players are as expressive in pizzicato playing (some of it truly creepy) as in bowed. The violins have mastered a devilishly tricky passage of double-dotted notes in E-flat minor. The depth of talent in the orchestra is striking, with the third horn as fine as any of the principal players. But all of these considerations pale next to extra-musical ones. At some time during the unbroken sequence of third to fourth movements to the lengthy fifth movement, this performance becomes a matter of life and death. And indeed, Tennstedt is saying, why play the "Resurrection" any other way. There's a true attacca from the end of the third movement to the vocal entrance of the fourth. The change of mood is hair-raising. Mezzo Jard van Nes's performance and Tennstedt's pacing of the "Urlicht" make it an inextricable part of the work that wouldn't stand on its own, because it is so keenly gauged as a transition. The brass playing here has a valedictory quality that sets up the fifth movement in a supremely fulfilling manner. When the voices have finally entered, we realize that this performance has been speaking and singing all along. Near the end of this ninety-minute symphony, the strings are hanging on with a superhuman tremolando.
The recorded sound is freakishly good, a rare example of a digital effort with some naturalness to it. The acoustic and Tennstedt's timing make the last two chords of the second movement one of the exquisite moments in sonic history. It's pointless to try to name a "best" recording of any work, but those who don't know this symphony could do no better than to explore this version, and those who do will still find something beyond any previous experience of the piece.
WILIAM R. BRAUN
Send feedback to OPERA NEWS.
