Creating a dramatic soundscape of sadness, longing, tenderness, and joy, conductor Alasdair Neale led the Sun Valley Festival Orchestra though Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No 6, in a-minor, Tragic, before 3000 people on Sunday evening. This massive work in four movements runs for 85 minutes, and it was the only piece on the program.
Over its 40-year existence, the Sun Valley Music Festival has upheld the practice of keeping concerts to a manageable one-hour length. Exceptions are made for the handful of works that are longer, and such was the case on Sunday night. One rule that held steady on Sunday was the ticket price. All concerts during this 4-music week extravaganza are free, except the gala concert that included Yo-Yo Ma.
The hillside setting is exquisite. An outdoor pavilion has stadium seating and space for picnics and blankets on the lawn. With Sun Valley’s Bald Mountain as a backdrop, the weather was perfect. The festival also provided a lengthy program booklet with detailed explanations of all the works to be performed. I have never seen a printed program that was more helpful and explanatory.
To the symphony performed on Sunday, Mahler himself attached the sobriquet Tragic, and from the haunting march that opens and pervades the piece, he manages to cover a compete range of human emotions. As associate conductor Stephanie Childress explained in a talk before the performance, the symphony follows the life of a hero. While it starts and ends in sadness, it goes in all sorts of directions. Although sad things were soon to happen in Mahler’s life, including the loss of one of his young daughters, a diagnosis of heart disease, and the loss of his conducting job in Vienna, Childress explained how this symphony was written during a time of happiness in his life, and she noted how living life is what this work is all about.
The SVMF certainly has major talent at the helm. Alasdair Neale has been Music Director of the festival for 30 years, and Sunday’s entire performance illustrated the incredible rapport he has built with this orchestra. He was at one with the musicians the whole time. Unburdened by a score or podium, he massaged the sounds with his left hand, while waving a baton in his right.
One interesting feature of the festival is the palpable sense of community it has spawned. Residents of Sun Valley and nearby Ketchum house the musicians in their homes. Year after year the musicians enjoy the same accommodations with the same people. In addition to community, camaraderie has also emerged. Everyone is welcome. These feelings make this event very special.
If Mahler is on the program, the residents of Sun Valley/Ketchum need to house a lot of people. Numbering almost two dozen, the cellos, basses and other lower pitched instruments, backed by a snare drum open the action with a march, which reappears repeatedly in the symphony. The higher strings soon joined in a sad melody, with the brass jumping in and out to great effect.
Eventually the brass and winds heralded the beautiful secondary theme, which Mahler conceded was a reference to his wife Alma. On Sunday night the melody had the feeling of a songbird singing in a gentle breeze. It was magical. Neale kept it very much in Mahler’s intentions, even honoring Mahler’s request for a repeat of the exposition of this 25-minute movement. Both times through I got goosebumps at the end.
At a quieter moment, the celesta takes over and deep bells are heard from offstage. In the background a cowbell sounds. Mahler also gave several solo opportunities to individual players. In the opening movement, concertmaster Jeremy Constant played a duet with Elizabeth Frimuth on horn.
This piece requires five percussionists, who scurry around the back of the stage and offstage to reproduce the sounds Mahler requested. In addition to timpani, one hears a bass drum, glockenspiel, triangles, crash cymbals, herd bells, a xylophone, and other objects.Most dramatically, twice during the finale, one of the percussionists banged a large hammer onto a specially constructed box that is large enough to fit an upright piano. The intended startling effect came through on Sunday.
The second movement Scherzo started in the same fashion as the opening movement, but quickly assumed a more dancelike role. The trio brought out a sharp contrast in sound, helped by mutes and other devices attached to the winds and horns.
Like the slow movements of the 4th and 5th symphonies, the slow movement in the 6th can stand on its own as a meditation delight. This one features a longing melody and reflective mood, mixed in with shades of night. Neale was able to blend the strings and winds to wonderful effect to create an aural dream. Some performances do have this movement go second. It served as a great break between the Scherzo and finale on Sunday.
The super long finale starts very haltingly, eventually recalling other aspects heard earlier. After 60 minutes, this is where Mahler can seem a little overbearing. Although there were a couple of performance lapses, Neale held it together extremely well. While long, it was an excellent performance. As Childress suggested, even though it ends sadly, living life came through again and again.
The Sun Valley Music Festival continues tonight with a performance of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto in C-major. Stephanie Childress will be conducting with John Wilson on piano, concertmaster Jeremy Constant on violin, and principal Amos Yang on cello. It opens with Strum for String Orchestra by Jessie Montgomery, the most recent Mead Composer-in-Residence of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Sun Valley, Idaho, 6:30 pm, free.
Tomorrow night, Alasdair Neale returns to the podium for A Joyous Trilogy by Quinn Mason. Also on the program is Canadian violinist James Ehnes performing the Violin Concerto in D-major by Johannes Brahms. Sun Valley, Idaho, 6:30 pm, free.
