As I sit here beside my candle, I am reflecting upon something I witnessed a few evenings ago. It was a minor miracle or at least something truly remarkable.
I was attending a concert at the Royal Festival Hall on London’s South Bank. In the second half of the programme, the American-Swedish conductor, Herbert Blomstedt, conducted the 80 players of the Philharmonia Orchestra in Mahler’s epic Ninth Symphony. The symphony is approximately 80 minutes in duration apart from three very brief breaks between each of its four movements. What is remarkable is that Maestro Blomstedt is 97 years old.
In the first half of the concert we had experienced Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos playing Mozart’s 4th violin concerto as soloist and at the same time as conductor of a more reduced orchestra. That of course was a feat in itself and it was an impressive sight watching the spry Kavakos alternately playing to the audience then turning to conduct the orchestra. But then Kavakos is very much younger than Blomstedt and the concerto’s three movements only run to a mere 20 minutes (less than the length of Mahler’s first movement!). His entrance onto the stage was energetic and forthright as were his performance and his exit after giving an encore.
By way of contrast, Maestro Blomstedt was brought onto the stage by the concert manager who held onto his arm. He was led to the podium in front of the orchestra, who applauded along with the audience. Blomstedt gave a small bow before stepping onto the podium and sitting on a chair to face the large orchestra arrayed in front of him.
One could be forgiven for wondering whether this frail old man would manage to complete the performance of this long symphonic work, let alone produce a compelling rendition. Or at least there might be mistakes in keeping the orchestra together in the sprightly 2nd and 3rd movements. Or he might meander in the long outer slow movements, lose focus and slow down the pace as his energy faltered. I am sure he would be forgiven these things by the audience if they had happened.
But no, they did not. His grip on both orchestra and the symphony’s score was sure and unerring throughout. Structure and phrasing were absolutely clear. He had a complete mastery of each movement and did not lose impetus or his way for a moment. If anything far from losing energy and pace, his performance of the two more energetic middle movements was quicker than my two cd recordings at home. Indeed his pace gave the impression of a young man in a hurry!
By the final movement we were in his thrall. As the final tender chords of the fourth movement adagio dissolved into the silence it seemed as if time stood still as he continued to hold up his arms and then slowly lowered them. The silence continued which revealed how engrossed we all were – orchestra, conductor and audience – under the spell of the music. It was an intense yet warm moment which we all shared.
Then the applause began. What was unusual was that Maestro Blomstedt did not turn to receive the applause as is customary. Instead he remained seated for a moment and applauded the orchestra himself, inviting them to stand to receive the audience’s appreciation. Then he pointed to individual sections of the players to take a bow acknowledging their individual contributions to the performance.
When he finally turned to take a bow himself, of course he received a well-deserved standing ovation. He then stepped down from the podium and slowly walked off stage, again helped by the concert manager as if the performance had never happened. His self- deprecation was as impressive as the music he had created. You see it was all about the music and the orchestra and not about him. Besides he does not need adulation any more after a long career as a musician, if he ever did. Apparently, he made his debut as a conductor in Stockholm in 1954, the year after I was born!
As Martin Kettle commented in The Guardian, ‘It was one of the finest performances of Mahler’s 9th one was likely to hear.’ I have never heard the symphony in live performance before and I feel highly privileged to have heard this one. It was also also the first time I had heard Herbert Blomstedt conduct. I hope it won’t be my last.
Not only was this performance a rare, indeed unique experience, it was music we needed to hear. Gustav Mahler wrote the symphony in 1909 after losing his daughter Maria to diphtheria two years earlier and learning that he himself had a defective heart which did not bode well for the future. He was to die two years later in 1911 aged only 51. As Martin Kettle also commented, ‘The Ninth is on the edge. It looks into the abyss. It grapples with mortality.’
There is also something prophetic about the symphony, about the abyss that Europe would plunge into only a few years later with the First World War in 1914, which Mahler mercifully did not witness, and the Second World War which followed in 1939. The music also speaks of our own 21st century and the wars we are sadly witnessing at present. It sometimes feels as if we are looking into the abyss ourselves.
Perhaps it was highly appropriate that a man of Maestro Blomstedt’s longevity, who has lived most of his life in the 20th Century and the rest in the 21st, should be leading the audience through this prophetic, intense, and ultimately cathartic experience. As he was born in 1927, he has after all lived through more conflicts than most of us have. The performance could be seen to be an old man’s testimony.
Underneath the doom-laden violent music of the first movement is a rhythmic pulse of hope, which I had not noticed before. Perhaps Blomstedt’s performance accentuated it. Perhaps I hadn’t listened closely enough before to notice it, even though I have played my records and cd’s of the symphony many times over the years. And it is hope that emerges triumphant at the end of the final movement.
Perhaps in our current turbulent times we too should listen closely for the rhythmic pulse of hope. And believe in it.
Ave atque Vale
Neilus Aurelius
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Classical Music Performance
Conducting
Royal Festival Hall
South Bank London
Gustav Mahler/ Symphony No 9
Herbert Blomstedt
Philharmonia Orchestra
Leonidas Kavakos
Mozart Violin Concerto No 4
The Guardian
Martin Kettle
Stockholm
First and Second World Wars
Meditations of Neilus Aurelius 