Mahler’s Fifth Symphony is not just a composition; it is an entire world. Within that world we become entirely immersed, caught up in its wonders and its drama, forgetting everything else.
Not that it would have taken much to obliviate all memories of concert opener Juvenalia, a percussion concerto by US composer Robert Honstein, 25 minutes of the most basic, primary coloured, industry standard, gestural ideas you could ever want not to hear. Halting bursts of blank, circular clatter, doing nothing, going nowhere, contrasted in its centre with some drifting stillness and pseudo-lyrical blah. Perhaps it was well played. It hardly mattered. Soloist Jordan Ashman and the CBSO Youth Orchestra certainly filled Symphony Hall with sound but we were still left with a complete creative vacuum.
The CBSO YO’s performance of Mahler 5 was, at its best, competent and credible. However, a palpable sense of considerable strain was evident almost all the way through. Hardly surprising, of course, considering that this was a youth orchestra concert. Yet whoever’s bright idea it was to get individual players and whole sections of the orchestra to stand up whenever their music was particularly important in the texture – with a literal spotlight shone on them – needs to have their head examined. Not only did it add extra effort to an already challenging performance, as well as being an increasingly absurd visual distraction, but it also played complete havoc with Mahler’s meticulous instrumental balance, particularly in the periods when the brass took to their feet, subsequently drowning out everyone except for the wildly enthusiastic timpanist.
All the same, it’s to the credit of many individual players that they managed to (literally) rise to the occasion with such aplomb. The opening trumpet solo – surely one of the most daunting in the repertoire, regardless of the performer’s age – was very good indeed, but the standout musician of the evening was undoubtedly Jhih-Yi Chang, whose horn solos were consistently excellent throughout the Scherzo. And though they had a tendency to overwhelm, the brass section as a whole was uniformly outstanding, often acting as an anchor for when things got a bit unsteady.
These problems were primarily located around the episodes of maximum energy, when Mahler’s textures are at their most complex and the symphony reaches an extreme of volatility. The second movement, in particular, threatened to come apart at the seams on several occasions, but Jac van Steen – understandably eschewing expressive body language in favour of an entirely functional, metric clarity – just about managed to keep everyone together. It was impressive in these knife-edge moments to witness the players working so hard to stay in alignment with each other.
The performance was at its best when Mahler was at his most solemn or sublime. The opening funeral march was compellingly realised, and while the violins were weak they fared much better in the quietude of the famous Adagietto. Here, all the strings could finally shine (with no small credit going to harpist Stien de Neef), especially the cellos and double basses who, here and elsewhere, conveyed the most gorgeous tone.
It was encouraging to see the orchestra grow in confidence through the performance. The boisterous conclusion of the Scherzo was genuinely exciting, and by the time they arrived at the finale there was a great deal more surety in their playing, with the woodwinds displaying real exuberance. To tackle Mahler’s Fifth is a hugely daunting proposition, not for the faint-hearted, and the CBSO YO’s attempt was nothing short of heroic.
