Royal Albert Hall, 30 August 2016
Two works which could be considered spiritual but in very different ways. Bach’s Cantata No82 Ich habe genug has a text many today may find difficult with its insistence on the hope of death in the face of the pains of living in this world. All three arias, beautifully and sensitively sung by Christian Gerhaher, yearn for the moment of escape from life, and the third, Ich freue mich is positively confident of the joys of heaven. It is easy to be swept away by such beauty and indicates the depth of Bach’s faith as he was writing. The small instrumental ensemble from the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester were joined by Bernhard Heinrichs whose mellifluous oboe playing did much to heighten the occasion.
After the interval we heard Bruckner’s 9th Symphony. The work may be incomplete but there is no sense of that in performance and especially when the playing is as good as it was from these young players. Philipps Jordan brought a delicacy and clarity to the opening sections which made the climaxes even more telling. The passages at full throttle had a fizzing excitement which is rare even for Bruckner. The scherzo had a steely cutting edge to its attack making the silences even more electric. Where the Adagio can sometimes seem introvert and even claustrophobic, here it was optimistic in its warmth and radiant in its climaxes, not the least of which was the final dissonant moments which had an intensity which reached into the twentieth century.
The Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester are always warmly welcomed to the Proms and this year it was most certainly deserved.