Elder conducts Mahler's 9th in DC

Sir Mark Elder conducts Mahler's Ninth Symphony with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center.

There are many reasons why the Mahler symphonies exert such a hold on musicians and audiences (numerous conductors have recorded his Ninth Symphony twice, and a single record label – DG -- has put out no less than ten different versions of it). They are a sort of Rorschach Test, wherein conductors and listeners can see almost anything they want to see; that is, it’s not so much the notes as what’s behind the notes. Mahler’s musical universe encompasses everything from numinous transcendence to sneering vulgarity, and each symphony contains things that draw us in and things that almost repel us. 

And the scores themselves are a frustrating mish-mash of conflicting instructions and expression marks; it is impossible for any orchestra to render each and every nuance on the page, so the conductor must decide, virtually bar-by-bar, what will be heard and what won’t (of course, inferior conductors just skate over the details, hoping the overall sweep of the music will suffice). It is something like a huge smorgasbord, and everyone’s “plate” will come out different.  

The opening of the Symphony is a true “acorn.” It hardly sounds like music; Mahler uses only five notes of the D major scale in halting, fragmentary thoughts from the cellos, harp, and horn (with little murmurs from the violas) before the second violins begin a languid tune. But these nondescript ideas anchor a half hour of his most closely-argued musical narrative, almost every moment relating back to the murky opening. The two middle movements – a bumptious Ländler and a ferocious Rondo Burleske – take us on a wild ride from the barnyard to Hades and back again. Then, in one of the many examples of Mahler using one symphony to comment on another, here he returns to, and inverts, a structural device from his Fifth Symphony. There, a theme from the penultimate movement (the famous Adagietto) returns in the hurtling, boisterous Finale, completely transformed. Here in the Ninth, a brief, mocking outburst from the clarinet in the Rondo Burleske comes back to dominate the consolatory Adagio; a quarter-note followed by a four-note turn. (To cap off the inversion, the Fifth Symphony ends a half-step higher than it starts -- C-sharp to D, whereas the Ninth ends up a half-step lower -- D to D-flat.)

Anyhow, for the orchestra musician, Mahler (along with Strauss) is the ultimate challenge. He was himself a virtuoso conductor, and knew each instrument’s capabilities in granular detail; all of his parts push the envelope of playability and require extensive practice, but the effort is immensely fulfilling to each musician. 

Thus it was that the NSO was loaded for bear last weekend when the veteran Englishman Mark Elder led it in a satisfying if somewhat hazy reading of Ninth. There was much to enjoy; Saturday night was a full house, and the band is playing at the top of its form, with especially rich lower strings and strong, pungent woodwinds. Although I re-assert my ubiquitous carping about balances at NSO concerts (winds and brass always overbalancing the strings), here I’ll refine my complaint to the horns specifically. The trumpets and low brass seemed to have a better handle on these issues; they held themselves in check many times.  The horns, though, seemed to play everything like it was a leading voice, covering more important string parts way too often. (They were also without their principal, who withdrew during rehearsals for health reasons; the assistant principal handled the spotlight well, as far as that goes, but the shake-up within the section may’ve contributed to their insensitivity to the overall ensemble.)

Elder’s selections from the smorgasbord were sort of meat & potatoes; I’ve heard many interpretations that were sharper-edged, with more contrast and more extravagance of expression. He is a thinker more than a doer, and while he seemed relaxed and authoritative, the product had a generic quality too often.  Nonetheless, the power of Mahler’s all-encompassing genius and the first-class effort from everyone onstage led to a compelling musical experience.  Between the previous week’s Sacre du printemps and this program, the NSO, even without its music director, is really scaling the heights.