Text | Zhang listens to the rain
Mahler's symphony has a large number of avid fans around the world, and the "real fan" giant Jacapland even learned to conduct Mahler's Second Symphony. 2021 marks the 110th anniversary of the death of composer Gustav Mahler, with commemorative events and concerts taking place around the world. In view of the current epidemic situation, most of the orchestras are unable to put Mahler's large-scale works on the stage, so Mahler performances in China are particularly special. On January 23, conductor Li Xincao led the China Symphony Orchestra to perform Mahler's Seventh Symphony at the Beijing Concert Hall, the first concert in Beijing this year to perform Mahler's Symphony in its entirety (Yu Long had previously conducted the China Philharmonic Orchestra to perform Mahler's Fifth Symphony), and for the nationwide performance, there was Mahler's "First Symphony" performed by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in early January.
Li Xincao is in charge of the national diplomatic relations
"Ma Qi" tests conductor in many aspects such as technology, control, and music processing. The length of the first movement is itself somewhat loose, and if you are not careful, it is easy to perform in pieces, and you don't know what to do. Conductor Li Xincao controls this very well, in addition to the accuracy of Mahler's precise rhythm, he can give a full sense of breathing, which gives Mahler's "canine tooth and tooth" texture a rich and delicate dialogue between voices. The speed of this work changes a lot, and Li Xincao did not choose too much to lose the speed of connecting the front part to achieve overall fluency, but risked structural fracture to make more sudden speed changes. In fact, Mahler's music requires more mutations, almost "neurotic" effects, and the risk is well worth it.
The second movement is discussed together with the fourth movement because the two movements are the obvious imagery of the "Song of the Night" point movement appealing to the night. If I take a differentiated perspective, the second movement is closer to Nietzsche's "Night Song" in "What Zarathustra Says"; the fourth movement is more literary, and what comes to my mind in my mind is Novalis's "Ode to the Night" - "Gentle air engulfs sorrow". Natural and mysterious but simple, the balance of wind echoes and the arrangement of percussion timbres in the second movement are undoubtedly a wonderful stroke to create an atmosphere. In the dialogue between flute and string, the use of unequal speed is also unique. The fourth movement is one of the most flavorful movements I think is interpreted by Mahler, in which mahler's chamber music language is interpreted by the conductor as a natural and full cooperation between the performers, who only prompt when "tone" is needed. The capture of color variations also reveals Mahler's fondness for oriental poetry.
Mahler biographer Stephen Johnson had called this final movement Mahler's failure, but I valued the modernity of this movement, which can be heard parodying Handel's "Royal Fireworks" and Wagner's "Famous Singers of Nuremberg", which is similar to Schnitke's "polyphony", and the band and the audience are obviously more happy to enjoy Mahler's magnificent symphonic spectacle. While focusing on the climactic shaping of the peaks, the conductor also combed the complicated lines very clearly, and the tension at the end was full of tension and decisiveness. Conductor Li Xincao's music always brings new ideas, typically such as the music after the harmony solution of the climax production, he is not obsessed with the creation of a grand narrative, but also highlights the novelty of color in the majestic place. Li Xincao's version of "Mahler Seven" can be described as a meticulous work, the performance is out of the spectrum and deduced into the heart, Mahler's moving and greatness can be truly heard here.
The above article mainly talks about the treatment of music, and the excellent performance of the orchestra players has to be written. As we all know, Mahler's score is so meticulous that each part has fine requirements, and the performers of the National Symphony Union reflect extraordinary standards and long traditions in rehearsal and presentation. There are also excellent performances in each part of the performance. The soloist of the principal horn and the solo of the principal orchestra reflect the excellent soloist standard of the orchestra players, and the brass part led by the trumpet also shows a very stable performance in the final movement, so the strict brass part can be regarded as a domestic benchmark, and the accurate clarity of the woodwind group and the deep and thick tone of the string music are the traditional inheritance of the orchestra.
It is controversial to return to the show after such a huge production as "Mahler VII", and it is believed that the ninth variation of Elgar's "Riddle Variations", which returned to the victims of the epidemic, became the final finishing touch of the concert. The deep nostalgia and ardent hope expressed in this work are in line with the original intention of the performance, the interpretation of the work, the theme of each reveal has a new atmosphere, the growth of music is full of momentum, and the silent state of up to twenty seconds after the end of the whole song has become an unforgettable memory in the concert hall. The momentary withdrawal contains a rapid fermentation of that night and past experiences, and everyone is now immersed in the shock of listening to the silence.
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