One can make the argument that, next to the Festival of Contemporary Music presented at the beginning of August, the most important happening during the Tanglewood summer is the “Leonard Bernstein Memorial Concert” featuring a full orchestra comprised of fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center and conducted by the Boston Symphony’s Music Director. Considering that a vast majority of the members of major American orchestras are alumni of the TMC, there is no better place to assess the long-term future of classical music in the United States than attending this annual concert.
Saturday night’s performance did not start under the best of auspices. In Berlioz’ rarely played La Mort de Cléopâtre, there was not, at least at the beginning, a sufficient level of communication between the soloist – the powerful soprano Christine Goerke – and the TMC Orchestra conducted by Andris Nelsons. Goerke had some difficulties in tempering the volume of her ample voice and the orchestra sounded loud and unmodulated as well. Nevertheless, things gradually improved. With clear French diction, Goerke conveyed the operatic character of the scene well, words and music combined in describing Cleopatra’s descent from shame and denial to resignation. The rendition of those moments when the asp bites, the heroine’s pulse wanes, and she barely breathes while the orchestral sound collapses into nothingness was both heart-wrenching and captivating.
The result of one of Berlioz’s four attempts to garner the coveted Prix de Rome, this cantata simultaneously looks back to Gluck and forward to Romantic expressiveness. The suicide of the Egyptian queen is indeed foretelling Dido’s lament in Les Troyens, composed several decades later. There are hints here of things to come in Berlioz’ mature works – such as the propensity for descending scales or the unusual progression of tonalities – and Nelsons clearly underlined them. At the same time, juxtaposing this early Romantic work with Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, a hugely influential late Romantic masterpiece, was a great idea.
Nelsons’ approach to Mahler’s Fifth has always been on the measured side. That allows him to bring out new details each time, sonic and rhythmic combinations previously overlooked, while maintaining – like few other conductors are able to – a firm grasp of the splendid architecture of the whole, with the Scherzo as an unquestionable center. The tragic first two sections mirrored each other more than ever; the tensioned stillness in the cello-anchored center of the latter was a remarkable moment. In the Scherzo, fugato elements seemed to take a life of their own. Bridging the gap between the hesitating rhythms and harmonies of the Adagietto and the lavish sonic universe of the Finale was a well calibrated process.
It was wonderful to watch Nelsons so involved. It is one matter to collaborate with an orchestra that has played this difficult score season after season but a different one to coach and extract the best from talented, enthusiastic players who have nonetheless – quite possibly – never played a Mahler symphony before. Recalling Nelsons’ successful performances at the helm of the TMC ensemble in past seasons, one should truly praise the conductor for obtaining such wonderful results. From trumpet Shea Kelsay to the extraordinary horn player Nathan Cloeter to harpist Hannah Cope Johnson – the main voice in the Adagietto – there were absolutely marvellous individual contributions from many young instrumentalists. Overall, it was a truly heartening experience. Whenever in doubt about the future of classical music, one should reminisce about this evening in the Berkshires.
