Mahler’s Second Symphony is a piece almost written for a concert series like the BBC Proms and a space like the Royal Albert Hall. It does bring challenges, however. Mahler is a fastidious taskmaster. Wild in its contrasts and ecstatic in its expression, the piece needs great pacing and skill to work in palatial Victorian surroundings. The size of the orchestra, and its numerous offstage elements, offer issues of coordination easy to miss amidst Mahler’s monument to immortality.
Not that The Hallé under Kahchun Wong failed in these regards in their splendid performance yesterday evening. The first and third movements were witness to some truly superb virtuosity in the brass section. Wong went for the most epic vision in his interpretation and much of it came off. The picture achieved on the widest canvas, however, could have done with more intricacy.
A slightly nervous first movement grew into the terrifying funeral-march that has drawn audiences into Mahler’s masterpiece since its rapturous first performance in 1895. The brass section, led by Laurece Rogers, Gareth Small and Katy Jones, was incisive. This was a problem that occasionally vexed the music’s momentum at several points further into Mahler’s marathon. The chirpy character of the second movement was over-emphasised. Mahler’s Ländler should not perhaps feel quite as quaint as it did at Wong’s moderate tempo. ‘Mannered’ would be a harsh description, but not too far off.
Emily D’Angelo sang a tender if not gripping role in the third movement – one of the most beautiful passages the composer wrote. Listed as a mezzo-soprano, this is really a contralto role. Wong would have done well to bring the orchestra down more for D’Angelo’s plea for mankind’s redemption to be heard. Throughout, the conductor’s relationship with his players, especially with his singers, was not as close as could be. Evoking the primordial growth of deep D flat major after over an hour of listening is no mean feat for a large choir. Given the distance between singers and audience, and the density of Mahler’s score, clarity was slightly hard to come by.
That should not distract from what was a truly gripping finale, Wong pacing a scintillating finish. The tricky section at which mezzo-soprano and soprano attempt to outdo each other in their passionate sprint through Friedrich Klopstock’s text was beautifully together. The choirs started their section with a fantastically hushed dynamic; the tenor and bass voices were particularly superb in their heart-rending rendition of “Bereite dich zu leben” (Prepare yourself to live). Even at these moments, though, Wong’s rather indulgent slowing up into a new section could have done with more forward momentum. The orchestral end felt ever-so-slightly underwhelming.
Ultimately, this is not a piece of detail: it’s one of grand visions. And we were certainly witness to a resplendent musical landscape. It was also a fabulous means of showing the wonderful Orchestra and Choirs that continue Sir Mark Elder’s legacy in Manchester. More detail was needed, yes. Mahler’s life-affirming work owes as much to the technical prowess the composer learnt in Bruckner as it does to the rapture of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to which it is compared. Conducting without a score with undying intensity, though, is some feat from Wong; this symphony is well-suited to his maximalist style. It will be exciting and fascinating to see where that style and ambition takes the Hallé after this triumphantly affirming performance.
