If you were to guess which American orchestra is the only one Sir Simon Rattle – by wide acclaim the world's preeminent conductor – conducts with any regularity, you would be forgiven for not automatically thinking of Philadelphia. Barely a week after a brief but rancorous strike, and only five years removed from bankruptcy, The Philadelphia Orchestra hasn't exactly been a model of stability in recent years. But, for all of their financial turmoil, this ensemble has lost none of its musicianship.
"It's an orchestra that I have long loved," Rattle said recently to Carnegie Hall's Jeremy Geffen, "and we've had a very profound connection over the years since the first time I went to conduct them in Mahler's Ninth (in 1993). But, it's also one of the great orchestras of the world, and one of the most generous."
Rattle, who's in town to conduct six performances of Tristan und Isolde at the Met, appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra last night at Carnegie Hall. The concert was part of Rattle's ongoing Perspectives series at Carnegie, during which he's had the opportunity to present music in various guises, including two performances next month with that other band he usually plays with. Given Simon's long relationship with both Mahler and Philadelphia, his choice of programming last night wasn't particularly surprising (if a bit overfamiliar): Mahler's 6th symphony.
This 80 minute symphony is full of drama and darkness, which Rattle drew out from the score even more than you might usually hear. In the first movement (Allegro energico), Simon placed the cowbells and tubular bells offstage, making them much more faint but also more haunting, like walking through an Alpine meadow at dawn (or, if you prefer, dusk).
Rattle's most radical departure, however, was to switch the order of the two middle movements, replicating the order Mahler himself used in the three performances he gave of the 6th during his lifetime. The effect was harsh at first: the slow, somber Andante dropped like a weighty sandbag after the bombastic opening movement. But, it made more sense once the performance reached the intense, spiky Scherzo, condensing the energy between that and the massive final Allegro, with its deafening hammer blows, clarion trumpet blasts, and other sonic cataclysms.
During the extended ovation the followed, the players could be seen wearing blue and gold ribbons on their lapels, which were meant to express solidarity with their colleagues at the Pittsburgh and Forth Worth Symphony Orchestras, both of whom remain on strike. All three orchestras were initially offered new contracts that not only cut their base pay and eliminated their pension plans, but reduced the number of players on their permanent roster, to be filled in with subs as needed. And this after all three orchestras were already living with significant cuts made in the wake of the Great Recession. Philadelphia management eventually agreed to modest increases in both base pay and player personnel, just in time to salvage last week's performance of the 6th at the Kimmel Center. But, they are a major orchestra, with major guest artists (like Rattle). For second tier orchestras without anything close to the same budget or media exposure, the outlook is far more bleak.
Meanwhile, Simon's next event on his Perspectives series is with the youth ensemble Ensemble Connect (formerly Ensemble ACJW) this Sunday, featuring a dramatic reinterpretation of Schubert's Winterreise with tenor Mark Padmore, who last joined forces with Simon in 2014's St. Matthew Passion. Tickets and info on the Carnegie website.
More pics on the photo page.