Mahler 2

src/content/posts/2024-10-23-mtt-lso-mahler2/index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+---
+title: "MTT and LSO: Mahler 2"
+publishDate: "2024-10-23"
+tags: ["classical-live", "barbican"]
+---
+
+## Programme
+
+**19:00, 23 October 2024, Barbican Hall**
+
+Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor<br />
+Siobhan Stagg, soprano<br />
+Alice Coote, mezzo-soprano<br />
+London Symphony Chorus<br />
+London Symphony Orchestra
+
+- Mahler: Symphony No. 2
+
+https://www.lso.co.uk/whats-on/mahler-2-resurrection-23-oct-24/
+
+## My thoughts
+
+Michael Tilson Thomas's health condition is very well-known, so I won't go on about it in this post, except to mention that he seemed much more sprightly than the last time he conducted the LSO in Mahler 3 back in May.
+
+Many people would characterise MTT's Mahler interpretations as less romantic, perhaps more controlled.
+Both his Mahler 3 and today's Mahler 2 lived up to this reputation.
+I feel like instead of focusing on the big picture, he pays very close attention to individual phrases and sections, and then builds up from there.
+(I sense that there's a parallel to functional programming and composability somewhere in there.)
+
+To be honest, even though I prefer Bernstein-esque passion in my Mahler, it's hard to go for a performance of Mahler 2 and _not_ be somehow moved by it.
+There are so many beautiful sections dotted throughout the symphony, and the LSO conjured some very magical moments, especially in the woodwind solos, but also the percussion.
+The audience was surprisingly compliant, and in the quieter sections of the fifth movement you could almost hear a pin drop: for example, in this passage with the offstage horn, I could hear (and to some extent, _feel_) the bass drum roll, which is super easy to lose in a recording:
+
+![Bass drum excerpt](./bass_drum.png)
+
+See e.g. this Rattle/BPO recording on YouTube: https://youtu.be/-lDK2LLB6Qg?t=4259
+I can just about make it out if I turn my volume to the maximum, but it's not the sort of thing I would have ordinarily picked up.
+(For some reason, I can't embed the video, and I can't seem to embed _any_ YouTube performance of Mahler 2 because they're apparently all blocked content.)
+
+I should also mention the last time I heard Mahler 2 in concert (in fact, my first time – my Mahler phase is fairly recent!).
+That was in the Royal Festival Hall with the LPO and Edward Gardner in September 2023.
+I think that the feature I enjoyed most of that performance was mezzo-soprano Beth Taylor.
+There's actually [a video of her performance of _Urlicht_ that night](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h21uSxLVwKI), which again I can't embed, but I love her vocal timbre so much; it's deeper and I feel like it kind of envelopes you.
+The RFH also has one other advantage over the Barbican: it has an actual organ...