St David’s Hall, Cardiff
Fri 20 Jan
To start the concert, we were treated to three unaccompanied choral pieces by Anton Bruckner comprised of Moetets: Locus iste; Os justi; Christus factus est; Ave Maria. There were about a hundred members of the choir and the sound they produced was incredible and deeply moving.
The second part, Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 6, was ably conducted by Thomas Søndergård and was absolutely outstanding. Thought to be his darkest work, Mahler himself considered it so calling it ‘The Tragic’. The piece was later seen as prophetic as, after writing it, Mahler’s life was struck by tragedies: he lost his position as conductor of the Vienna Opera, his daughter died from scarlet fever, he was diagnosed with a heart lesion, and he discovered his wife was having an affair. With four movements and at 88 minutes long, this is an intense piece that uses all the sections of the orchestra to full force. Mahler even includes instruments such as the celesta, cowbells, a whip, and a massive hammer brought down upon a box to represent the blows of fate. Delicate, slow points on the strings giving an almost dreamlike quality to the piece, are suddenly shattered by loud crashing cymbals and timpani, marking a shift from tranquility to devastation. There is a persistent march rhythm which cuts through any peace and establishes a great tension; the underlying percussion is ominous and serves as a build up to the hammer blows. There are lulls in the music which are teasing moments of the calm before the storm when the percussion comes crashing in once more. However, eventually the music dwindles into nothingness and we are left with our own sense of loss and the crushed anticipation of something more.
This concert was recorded for BBC Radio 3 and will be broadcast on Friday 27th January at 7:30pm.
words LUCY MENON
