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Different Simon RATTLE, Different BRSO
©BR _ Astrid Ackermann
Written by WU Yu-ting
Translated by California Translations
Why are people so excited about RATTLE working with the BRSO?
In the 2023/24 season, Sir Simon RATTLE became the chief conductor for the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (BRSO), the position having long been vacant since the passing of Mariss JANSONS in 2019. In an interview with the Gasteig, RATTLE described his relationship with the BRSO: "On the one hand, I still sense the spirit of Rafael KUBELÍK in this orchestra… On the other hand, I feel such a warm connection with the orchestra's members."
KUBELÍK was the second chief conductor at the BRSO, which RATTLE remembers from his childhood. In the '60s, KUBELÍK made a recording in Bavaria of a complete collection of MAHLER's symphonies, his interpretations quite lively and ordered. The reins of the orchestra were then given successively to the expression and elegance of Colin DAVIS and then the confidence and charm of Lorin MAAZEL. And when JANSONS was there, he gave the orchestra a more meticulously emotional expression and chamber-music quality.
People wondered how the passionate RATTLE would incorporate into the relatively reserved BRSO. Well, they were pleasantly surprised. Maybe the two adjusted to each other to find that perfect balance, or maybe RATTLE's state of mind calmed. Whatever it was, their 2021 live performance of MAHLER's Ninth Symphony was without a doubt one of the best recordings in recent years.
It won the Diapason d'Or, Supersonic Pizzicato, and Gramophone Editor's Choice. The piece starts with the French horn, harp, and viola interacting to produce a strong sense of space and even the winding of a galaxy. The second movement has a vivid flavor of the Ländler folk dance with a harmony of the decided and undecided, resolved and unresolved, all of which are portrayed in detail. Overall, it reaches both deep and wide, shining much more brilliantly than his 2007 recording with the Berlin Philharmonic.
With such success under his belt, he took MAHLER's Sixth Symphony as the focus of his inaugural season, and it was again his own label to publish the recording. Through this album, we again see how he has stepped away from technical virtuosity and strong sensory appeal and blends his understanding of life into each phrase of the music.
What to know about MAHLER's Seventh
From all the changes one sees in life as expressed in Symphony No. 9 to the sense of die-hard commitment in No. 6, in his second season with the BRSO, RATTLE decided to focus on what he described as the "black sheep" of MAHLER's symphonies, No. 7, which is a world apart from Nos. 6 and 9.
Symphony No. 7 was written in 1904, at which time the composer had only been married to Alma for two years, soon to be followed by the births of his two daughters. During this time of bliss, he wrote No. 6, also known as "The Tragic," through which he vents his pessimism about life's inevitable decline. No. 7 took a turn into the fantastic, as though he were digging up his subconscious. The second and fourth movements, respectively named Nachtmusik I and II, emphasize darkness.
According to MAHLER, the piece seems to progress from the dark of night to sunrise. The first movement begins with a funeral march, full of fear and terror speckled intermittently with a gentle, beautiful second theme, as though depicting life as a lengthy night. The second movement was likely inspired byRembrandt's The Night Watch, switching intentionally between major and minor to highlight the contrast of light and shadow, bringing the listener deeper into a dreamland. With the cowbell and folk melody, memories from long ago are awakened. The third movement is shrouded in a sense of danger. The composer is no longer partaking from a distance as in the first movement but is being spun around by a demon in a dance of death.
The fourth movement slows down as the plucked guitar and mandolin generate an emotional tremor in depicting a deep affection for the world at the end of the dream. The fifth movement's percussion welcomes the sunrise. It seems to just be a clamorous celebration at first but evolves into the chaos of the end of the world as the harmony degrades from a joyful, majestic hymn to a resurgence of the darkness in the first movement and an increasing amount of dissonance.
Interestingly, RATTLE says of the end that the light of the fifth movement is not a natural outdoor light but "the blinding light of a theatre". Could it be that he views the piece as a reflection of and confession about his own career on stage? If so, it only makes one look more forward to hearing just how he'll recount this "song of the night" and break free from himself.
©BR _ Astrid Ackermann
Program
2024/12/5(Thu)19:30
►Sir Simon RATTLE & Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
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