Mahler in Dresden, Tchaikovsky in London

 A benefit of living in Europe is being able to duck in on a variety of big musical events when I go sightseeing. In the past couple months two such experiences proved particularly memorable. 

In London I saw Swan Lake at the Royal Ballet in Covent Garden. As one would expect from this august company, the solo and corps dancing was superb and expressive. The sets were a bit musty and dowdy-appearing, even though designed during this century. The true star, though, was Tchaikovsky's dazzling ballet score. If Mozart was at heart a great opera composer, Tchaikovsky was at the core a top dance composer. It's in his ballet scores, esp. Swan Lake and Nutcracker, that we can best hear his varied orchestration and relentless forward motion and pulse, essential in the dance. In this Swan Lake the two principal soloists, Fumi Kaneko as Odette/Odile and Vadim Muntagirov as Prince Siegfried, acted and danced beautifully. They even made the confusing ending of the ballet work. Depending on which version you see, the doomed couple can either ascend to heaven together, die in a pond, or transform into alternate species. Why the confusion? It turns out the original story/script was (but not the  music or the choreography) was lost in the sands of history. Well, logic is not to be expected of the romantic period, after all. Besides the great dancing, the the plushness of the surroundings and the full and vibrant orchestral performance made this a great evening. 

Even more eventful was a July performance of Mahler's Symphony No.8 in Eflat Major ("Symphony of a Thousand") at the Semper Opera House in Dresden. This was eventful for more that one reason. Any performance of this symphony is a big deal, given its double choir, children's chorus, 7 vocal soloists, and full post-romantic orchestra including organ. The Dresden performance did not have 1000 performers (this is actually rare), but did muster about 450, more than enough sound for the relatively intimate house of 1200 or so seats (compared to the 3500 at the NYC Metropolitan). The theater is beautiful, dating from the mid-1800s and meticulously preserved despite the horrendous destruction of Dresden by bombing in WWII. I'm always amused when nineteenth century theaters honor the "best" composers by placing busts or portraits of them within the decor. Yes, we see Beethoven and Mozart there, but also Meyerbeer, Spontini and Gounod (!).

The other reason for excitement was that this was the final Dresden subscription concert for music director Christian Thielemann, where he has led opera and symphony performances by the Dresden Staatskapelle (State Opera) since 2005. Thielemann is a specialist in German-Austrian music, and is renowned for his interpretations of Strauss, Wagner, and Bruckner. He has achieved a bit of criticism for his conservative views (eg immigration), and this impression is not helped by his often-stern appearance and stage deportment that can evoke the bad old days of German Wehrmacht officers. 

Here, he led a masterfully balanced, taut, and dramatic performance. This gigantic, two-part symphony can go off the rails easily; it has many elements for the conductor to hold together, not in the least connecting the opening Latin hymn Veni Creator Spiritus to the ending movement, a dramatic reenactment of the final scene of Goethe's Faust. There are also lots of details that need to emerge, eg a mandolin, intricate counterpoint from 8 choral parts, and instruments and singers spaced throughout the hall, not just on stage. I have sung this blockbuster twice with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, under both Michael Tilson Thomas and Herbert Blomstedt. Both conductors impressed me for their hyper-organized approach to rehearsal timing, an obvious essential if this unwieldy piece is to succeed. However, I have not always found the piece successful as an audience member or CD listener, usually because the myriad details do not always add up to an overwhelming whole, as Mahler intended. In this Dresden performance, I think Thielemann did achieve this. The ending choral phrase "Alles vergaengliche ist nur ein gleichnis" (All that is transient is but a parable) is probably as famous to fans of German poetry as Schiller/Beethoven's "Freude schöner götterfunken" (ending the ninth symphony) is to a general musical audience, and here Mahler aims for the same kind of overwhelming conclusion as did Beethoven. Thielemann really achieved this kind of transcendence, more than on any recording I have heard. Some of this was due to his canny pacing of the movement, and some due to the wonderful acoustics of the Semperoper. Atypical for Germany, there was a prolonged standing ovation at the end, I think both due to the performance and to appreciation for Thelemann's sixteen-year leadership of the orchestra. I enjoyed the rich, bass-centered sound of the orchestra, reminiscent of the Vienna Philharmonic sound, and all the vocal soloists handled their often-taxing duties beautifully. Sometimes it's really fun to be in Europe!