Photo, Chris Christodoulou
Saturday, August 2, 2025
Royal Albert Hall, London
Popular-song lyrics tell the tale, “The Times They Are a-Changin'” (Bob Dylan) and “Everybody’s Doin’ It” (Irving Berlin). Several decades ago Mahler’s Second Symphony was a novelty, so much so that a friend recalls (during the late-fifties) that when a young Lorin Maazel conducted it in London, the then BBC Third Programme (R3 from 1967) changed its schedule to broadcast live what was a rare performance. The work is now everyday fodder for orchestras across the globe and an unrelenting magnet for audiences. This Proms presentation may well have been one of the first this season to sell out, but that partly reflects the tendency of some people to make this series of concerts their only live music in any one year.
Not helped by the Hallé being a little recessed in the RAH via this relay, the first movement, well-played as it was, offered little not heard many times before, although some dubious changes of tempo courtesy of Kahchun Wong (Mark Elder’s successor) enlivened the attention. The Ländler of the second movement was nicely done, without bumps, a pastoral intermezzo, yet the Scherzo (so soon following Berio’s SInfonia the night before) was short on earthy vigour and transporting flight, leaving Emily D’Angelo to intensify ‘Urlicht’ (Primal Light). If the expanded Finale wasn’t initially the most descriptive or atmospheric, let alone theatrical (the two crescendos from the Earth’s depths, tame), it had a clear trajectory and grew in communication and significance, with good use made of the venue’s off-stage possibilities, so that the combined chorus (magically hushed on its first appearance) and Mari Eriksmoen (radiant) grew in density – apt for (sung in German) “Rise again, yes, rise again”.
Mari Eriksmoen (soprano)
Emily D’Angelo (mezzo-soprano)
Hallé Choir
Hallé Youth Choir
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002ggcb
More recently a four-movement Bruckner Nine conducted by Wong has been released.
“… the extended third the pivot, a “collage” based on the similarly-placed Scherzo of Mahler’s ‘Resurrection’ Symphony, Berio borrowing Mahler’s marking of In ruhig fließender Bewegung, the movement a ground-plan for a cornucopia of quotations assembled by Berio…”
Reading your review of Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony played by the Halle Orchestra and Choirs at the Proms, I can’t actually believe we were at the same concert, maybe some nuances were lost if you listened to a broadcast.
This is a symphony I have heard several times and the performance was far from unremarkable. The orchestra was absolutely together throughout and at times, the music ‘danced’. The mezzo entry was magical and there was excellent balance between the mezzo and the soprano. The entry of the choir was sublime, initially with them remaining seated so as not to create any disturbance. Throughout, the orchestra’s quiet playing was outstanding, with the volume at no time reaching the breathtaking climax of the Finale. Wong’s relationship with the performers provided appropriate smiles and encouragement, with his conducting minus the score, removing any barrier between the conductor and performers.
In my opinion, this was a truly remarkable and outstanding performance.
I agree. This was a wonderful concert and enthusiastically received by the audience.
Rarely have I been at a prom where the entire audience was on their feet at the end.
The performance was interesting but hardly memorable as heard on the radio.
The articulation of the opening was unusual but the second subject was pulled about to an unacceptable degree and some of the tempo changes grated. The two following movements were OK but not outstanding as was Urlicht and after that there was a decided lack of spirituality. The offstage fanfares were too loud, as was the chorus at its first entry, the tempo too fast and the final statement of Auferstehen passed for little, which given the quality of the singing was clearly down to Wong.
The presentation was the usual BBC naff where rather bizarrely the presenter seemed to think it was miraculous that Wong didn’t use a score.
With regard to the work itself, there really should be an international ban on it for at least two years. Every tom dick and harry does it and yes its a fine work but hardly of the quality of the 6th, 9th or Das Lied.
I agree with Jaqueline’s comments.
I was there, which I think you really had to be to fully appreciate it, and the entry of the choir was in no way too loud in the hall in fact it brought tears to my eyes in it’s beauty and extreme pianissimo. Differences in tempo are called interpretation, and to my mind this was indeed one of the finest performances I have ever heard of this piece.
Rob, why would you deprive audiences of this incredible piece of music? What a ridiculous thing to say.
I listened on the radio. Certainly it was different from other performances I have heard but that’s what made it so interesting. In the 1st movement every single note was clear – I want to say articulated but am not sure that’s the correct word – just that you could hear every single note played, which I haven’t heard before. The choir was sublime. Conducted from memory?
I thought it was a stunning version.
I heard this in their home in Manchester, a few months ago, and no radio broadcast will ever be able to reproduce the complexities of this piece. Khachun`s interpretation is very different, tempi can be argued about, but his attention to detail, (often lost in a broadcast, and on many recordings in the past), is always there in a live performance.
I have lost count how many times I have heard this symphony live, not only in Manchester by the Halle and the BBC Philharmonic, but occasionally, in London too.
There will never be a definitve version, only different approaches by conductors, which will either be enlightening, exciting, frustrating, or annoying, but one thing is for sure, Mahler put on paper something quite remarkable, and Khachun finds a lot of it, often swallowed up by too loud passages, drowning out the subtle melodies..
.
It was a wonderful performance …I have been to every Manchester performance since the 1960s ..I just missed its Manchester premiere by a few years (it was the late 50s with Barbirolli (Joan Sutherland no less one of the soloists) ..my only complaint about the Wong performance is …the rute was hardly heard in the third movement…interesting how critics haven’t noticed that…the execution couldn’t be faulted …interpretation is a subjective thing…considering what finances our provincial orchestras receive…compared with Berlin Vienna Dresden Leipzig and other European groups along with American organisations the performance was remarkable
I think the reason you couldn`t hear the ruthe was down to BBC engineering, rather than the performance.