MUSIC REVIEW: BSO, TMC, TFC at Tanglewood

TANGLEWOOD
BOSTON SYMPHONY, TMC ORCHESTRA

JULY 16, 17, 2010

Reviewed by Clarence Fanto

(LENOX, Mass., July 18, 2010) — Mahler intended his Symphony No. 3 to convey a massive image in sound of the entire world, encompassing nature in general, the forest, birds (especially cuckoos), humanity, an angelic choir and a closing testament to the power of love.

The composer whose 150th birth anniversary is being marked this year and who died a century ago succeeded magnificently, and it takes a great orchestra, highly skilled singers and a conductor steeped in the remarkable aural universe that Mahler created to realize fully his vision.

All the more remarkable then that this year's Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, which came together less than a month ago, rose to the challenge set for them by one of a handful of great contemporary interpreters of Mahler. It's worth mentioning that these young players on the cusp of professional careers, most of them in their late teens and early 20s, were performing the repertoire's longest symphony — nearly an hour and 45 minutes on this occasion — for the annual Leonard Bernstein Memorial Concert.

Michael Tilson Thomas, not a protegé but a musician greatly influenced by Bernstein, creates a Mahlerian experience that combines fierce strength and decisiveness, as the composer instructed for the gargantuan, 35-minute first section, with the gentle grace and charm of the second-movement minuet and the sense of mystery, repose, extroverted cheerfulness and deeply-felt tranquility of the final four movements.

The TMC players rose to the occasion as if their lives depended on it and demonstrated a virtuosity and profound understanding of Mahler's masterpiece that would do any major professional orchestra proud. The American Boychoir, the women of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill handled their fourth- and five-movement roles with sensitivity and vocal skill.

Memorable moments included the extended off-stage posthorn solo in the scherzo movement, Cargill's hushed entrance as if from the depths of the earth, the stellar work by the TMC's trombonists, trumpets, horns, tuba and winds, strings that performed with sheen and virtuosity, and a pair of timpanists, backed by nine other percussionists, who delivered piercing, body-blow strokes at key climaxes.

The concluding adagio, titled "What Love Tells Me" in Mahler's original descriptive program for the score, was heartbreakingly poignant and almost unbearably moving.

On Friday night (July 16), Tilson Thomas led a reduced Boston Symphony and the TFC in Stravinsky's groundbreaking Symphony of Psalms (no violins or violas in the score) and Mozart's final work, his Requiem, left half-finished on his deathbed and published in several editions; the most often performed is a completion by his contemporary Franz Xaver Sussmayr. who worked from the composer's sketches and re-used the opening for the concluding pages.

These great scores — many consider them the apex of each composer's body of work — received expert yet straightforward performances by Tilson Thomas, who avoided the vocal embellishments some conductors add to the Mozart score. 

The vocal quartet for the Requiem was well-matched — soprano Soile Isokoski reprised her 2006 Tanglewood performance of the work conducted by James Levine, joined by mezzo Kristine Jepson, tenor Russell Thomas and bass Jordan Bisch. The Tanglewood Festival Chorus's articulation was crisp, as always, and its sonority was heaven-sent. John Oliver, who founded the chorus 40 years ago, deserves much of the credit for its continuous excellence.

Two more nights of the highest calibre on Tanglewood's main stage, demonstrating once again that the BSO management was able to recruit ideal substitutes for James Levine on short notice. It's clear that Tilson Thomas is welcome to return as often as schedules and logistics permit.

 

Clarence Fanto reviews music for Berkshireliving.com and is a contributing editor of Berkshire Living.