In twelve days the Phil will take another run at this great masterpiece, Mahler's 4th Symphony. Many of you will recall that we had planned to do this work last season but severe winter weather caused us to cancel two of the four rehearsals. The concert went on, but not with the Mahler. You just don't do under-rehearsed Mahler.
This decision to change the program was especially saddening. Mahler takes great advance preparation from both the players and especially from the conductor. This is musicians' music; conductors' music. For them it's like that perfect once-in-a-decade football bowl-game match-up. Or a really fantastic cruise that you've planned for five years. Except that on the day before, you suddenly realize that it's not going to happen. The rug is pulled out from under you. The wind is out of your sail.
So of course, we rescheduled it immediately for this season. Without question. And I personally can't wait. For me, Mahler, along with a small handful of other composers, is music best experienced live. Oh, it's good on a recording, but Mahler is monumental. He is a master of subtlety and of architecture and of contrast. Joel tells me it "waves down" pretty easy, but it's how a conductor makes sense and makes real the nearly infinite and very specific dynamic markings that really makes it succeed or not. One needs to be in the same space with the artists. To breathe the same air. To see and feel them working with a collective intensity and concentration. That's what makes the journey so damn special. It's work. For the players, to be sure, and sometimes even the audience. But it's worth it. And we're all a little better for the experience. The shared experience.
I can tell you that when Maestro Levine and the players take their bows, they will have climbed to the mountain-top. And we get to go along for the ride. See you there on the 19th!
Eddie
Posted on
Mon, November 7, 2011
by Eddie Walker