There's still time. A rare opportunity to hear Gustav Mahler's Seventh Symphony. Even the SSO does not play it often. The Orchestra of the Music Makers (OMM) led by French conductor Alexander Bloch lifts the roof off Esplanade with the orchestra's first performance of Mahler 7, widely regarded as his most problematic symphony. Why? It has five movements, two long outer movements sandwiching two nocturnes (Nachtmusik) and a demonic scherzo, a strange juxtaposition. It is sometimes called Song of the Night, not Mahler's description.
I had a rare opportunity to attend the dress rehearsal, and if anything is an indication, it's going to be a superb and memorable evening. Not just for the serious music, but to feel the passion of all the performers on stage.
The concert opens with Shostakovich's First Cello Concerto with Qin Li-Wei as soloist, who will give a truly sizzling performance. The Mahler, although complex and convoluted, gets a performance that is clear-headed, vigorous in spirit yet filled with many moments of aural sensuousness. "The symphony is like a world. It must have everything," so said Mahler himself. Here are the photos.
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| The Bells, not by Rachmaninoff but Mahler! |
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