Triumph in Tragedy

Gustav Mahler

Who: The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
What: Semyon Bychkov conducts Mahler's Symphony No. 6
Where: Powell Symphony Hall, St. Louis
When: January 4 and 5, 2011

During the thoroughly deserved standing ovation that followed Friday's performance of the Mahler Symphony No. 6 by Semyon Bychkov and the St. Louis Symphony, my wife turned to me and remarked, “Well - that was thrilling.” And so it was.

The Sixth is a daunting work, running between 70 and 90 minutes and jam-packed with compelling and original musical ideas. It demands rapt attention from listeners, Olympic-class endurance on the part of the players, and a strong grasp by the conductor of both Mahler's passion and his musical architecture. It is, in short, a work that is both exhilarating and exhausting for musicians and audience members alike.

Mr. Bychkov, in particular, looked physically drained after those last, searing moments of the finale, as though the famous “hammer blows” that felled Mahler's hero had nearly claimed him as collateral damage. For a moment or two it wasn't even clear whether he would come back out to acknowledge the waves of applause. Happily, there were no signs of strain in his conducting, which looked just as precise and in control as it did during last weekend's far lighter program of Schubert, Shostakovich and Beethoven. And the augmented forces of the symphony sounded brilliant.

Much has been written about how this work was the most personal of Mahler's symphonies - so much so that a huge body of lore and controversy has arisen in the 104 years since its premiere. There is, for example, the ongoing debate as to whether the Scherzo or the Andante should be performed as the second movement. Mahler apparently never quite made up his mind on the matter, and respectable recordings are available of both versions. Mr. Bychkov apparently decided to opt for the Scherzo/Andante approach, but only after the programs had already been printed, necessitating an insert with the final running order. It made dramatic sense to me but given the high quality of the performance I expect that, had he gone with Andante/Scherzo, he would have made that work as well.

Another problem orchestras have had to contend with is the question of how to produce the hammer blows called for in the finale. Mahler stipulated that the sound should be "brief and mighty, but dull in resonance and with a non-metallic character (like the fall of an axe)". The symphony's solution, while unsightly, was undeniably effective: a massive (around 8' tall) unfinished wooden box struck with an equally massive wooden hammer. The resulting sound had a visceral impact that the composer would probably have loved.

Mahler originally called for three blows in the final movement to act, among other things, as demarcation points in its massive structure (the movement runs nearly a half-hour) but at the work's premiere Essen the composer could not bring himself to conduct that final stroke of fate. It was dropped from the published score and while some conductors have elected to restore it, Mr. Bychkov let the deletion stand. Personally, I would have preferred all three, but I understand the logic behind his decision.

The emotional and sonic range of this symphony is massive - a fact which has tempted some conductors to personalize an already idiosyncratic work by exaggerating the highly charged drama. Happily, Mr. Bychkov does not appear to be one of them. I had the strong sense that he was letting Mahler speak for himself, bringing out all the intense emotion and loving details in the music without ever calling too much attention to the process.

The sheer numbers of musicians not withstanding, the Sixth is filled with little moments that place nearly every principal musician in the spotlight at one point or another. You can hear, in this piece, the beginnings of the kind of pointillist approach to orchestration that would reach its apogee if the music of Webern. Melodic fragments are often tossed between sections, with individual instruments sometimes getting in only a few notes before passing the baton.

In order for this sort of thing to work, you need an orchestra of virtuosi. As Friday's performance clearly demonstrated, we have that orchestra here. Every detail was perfectly in place, and the entire package neatly wrapped up by Mr. Bychkov. What a gift for all of us!

Semyon Bychkov conducted Mahler's Symphony No. 6 on Friday and Saturday, February 4 and 5, 2011. For information upcoming St. Louis Symphony concerts, you may cal 314-534-1700 or visit stlsymphony.org.