Young Mahlerites show extraordinary insights at Salzburg

By Jonathan Sutherland, 26 August 2016

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“Gerhaher brought an intimate, quietly reflective interpretation”

Reviewed at Felsenreitschule, Salzburg on 24 August 2016

Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde: Der Abschied

Mahler, Symphony no. 9 in D major

Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester

Philippe Jordan, Conductor

Christian Gerhaher, Baritone

In these sacred halls: a long Sunday at the Enescu Festival

Peter Quantrill, 7th September

Bucharest’s temples of culture present rites of closure by Mozart, Kurtág and Bruckner… and a fleeting glimpse of Nirvana.

****1

Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and Martha Argerich in Évian

David Karlin, 2nd July

Argerich shows her full artistry, while Europe's young musicians show impressive coordination and dynamics, if short of emotion in Beethoven 7.

****1

Bluebeard as psychothriller in Castellucci's mismatched double bill

George Jahn, 2nd August

Romeo Castellucci's intense production of Bartók's opera reaps its rewards in the performance under Teodor Currentzis, but Carl Orff's opera-oratorio De temporum fine comoedia feels little more than a drab filler.

***11

Prom 60: Intimations of mortality

Matthew Rye, 30th August

Bach in morbid mood and valedictory Bruckner brought to life by young musicians under the baton of Philippe Jordan

***11

Prom 56: Immaculate Ravel from Thibaudet

David Karlin, 24th August

German bombast. French joie de vivre. Russian soul-searching. You could hardly ask for more contrast in the principal themes of last night’s Prom, with Philippe Jordan conducting the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, from the military pomp of Wagner’s overture to Rienzi to the fairground whirl of Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major.

***11

An exuberant Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester in Birmingham with Andsnes and Blomstedt

Rohan Shotton, 26th March

Herbert Blomstedt brought the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester to Birmingham for the ninth of their eleven-concert, two-week Easter tour. Their magisterial account of Bruckner’s Romantic Symphony, and a fine performance of Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto by Leif Ove Andsnes, earned them a vociferous reception.

*****

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Jonathan Sutherland

Jonathan Sutherland is a graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the Hochschule Mozarteum in Salzburg. He is also an internationally renowned concert pianist specializing in the music of the 1930s. Jonathan’s first operatic experience was hearing Maria Callas sing Tosca in Covent Garden and he has since heard performances in all continents of the world including over 60 different productions at the Wiener Staatsoper. He has written for The Australian, Opera Today and The Opera Critic as well as Bachtrack. Jonathan speaks English, French, German and Italian fluently and is based in the south of France near Nice.