A rather \u201cheavy\u201d looking programme was a delightful experience. The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, under the baton of Riccardo Chailly, were in good form.<\/p>\n
The opening of Messiaen\u2019s Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum <\/em>really did sound from \u201cout of the depths\u201d. The percussionists and wind players together created a wonderfully moving experience.<\/p>\n The restated chant-like wind passages, with rasping brass and the sometimes frantic, other times static percussion produced a mesmerising sound world.\u00a0 Messiaen\u2019s desire to portray something of the meeting between the human and divine elements of life and death was certainly achieved. A neighbouring member of the audience remarked to me afterwards that he felt almost the whole hall had been in a meditative state. Anyone who says that Messiaen\u2019s music cannot touch the soul should have experienced this performance.<\/p>\n The longer part of the evening was given over to Mahler\u2019s \u00a0Symphony<\/em> No 6 in A minor.<\/em><\/p>\n This four movement symphony showed the full orchestra in all its glory.\u00a0 The symphony demands large resources which were all deployed well at different times throughout the piece, the two harpists adding an ethereal element, not unlike the mysterious cowbells heard at points away from the main body of the orchestra. Mahler makes precise technical demands of many of the instrumentalists, widening his already large palette of individual colours. I am afraid I found the view of one of the percussionists climbing a step at the back of the staging to deliver the two enormous hammerblows demanded towards the end of the final movement rather comic. \u00a0I know that was not Mahler\u2019s intention and I am sure it was not the intention of the musicians either but do wonder about the placing of the instrument in such a strategic position!<\/p>\n Throughout the symphony there was drama, pathos, doom and uplift. A superb performance was given by an outstanding group of musicians. My only criticism is that I would have liked the concert to have ended with the Messiaen rather than the Mahler. SP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A rather \u201cheavy\u201d looking programme was a delightful experience. The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, under the baton of Riccardo Chailly, were in good form. The opening of Messiaen\u2019s Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum really did sound from \u201cout of the depths\u201d. The … Continue reading