White Light Festival: Song of the Earth

by Michael Cirigliano II

Although scheduled many months in advance, Sunday night’s
White Light Festival program at Rose Theater could not have been more apropos,
with Emanuel Ax joining forces with New York Philharmonic musicians for an
intense reading of Arnold Schoenberg’s chamber-orchestra transcription of
Gustav Mahler’s towering Das Lied von der
Erde. A symphony for orchestra, tenor, and mezzo-soprano, Das Lied uses Chinese folk poetry to
communicate man’s difficult relationship with nature—an eternal conflict of
perspective that mankind itself is only able to wrestle with for a brief period
of time.

With the floodwaters from Hurricane Sandy continuing to
recede, and the threat of another storm approaching the tri-state area in the
coming week, New York City is seldom humbled as it has been by nature over the
past year. The destruction recently felt by all metropolitan residents echoed Mahler’s
own sorrows while composing Das Lied, having
recently suffered the death of one of his daughters, as well as the diagnosis
of his fatal heart condition.

Schoenberg began his transcription of Mahler’s work as a
member of the Society for Private Musical Performances in Vienna, reducing the
titanic orchestra to an ensemble of 13 players plus the solo voices. Whereas
Mahler’s score gives weight to the collective human struggle against nature’s
fury, Schoenberg’s delicate transcription makes greater use of the isolated
voices: with solo strings and plaintive winds coalescing with the tenor and
mezzo soloists in incredibly interwoven fashion.

Leading the ensemble, Matthias Pintscher paved the way for
brisk tempi that made great use of tenor Russell Thomas’ agile voice,
especially in the dramatic opening movement, "Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde" (“Drinking Song of the Earth’s
Sorrow”). Thomas was captivating throughout, filling the hall with his
heldentenor timbre without ever forcing, even in his uppermost register.
Sharing the spotlight were suave performances from oboist Liang Wang and
clarinetist Pascual Martinez Forteza—brilliant soloists throughout, sculpting
each of Mahler’s delicate phrases with no signs of endurance problems, even
during the 30-minute final movement.

Mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford didn’t fare nearly as well, a
grave disappointment given the emotional importance of her solo movements. Moving
through each phrase with an overwrought vibrato and quizzical look on her face,
her performance lacked conviction and the necessary diction needed to convey such
powerful texts. Her finest moments came when pitted in her husky lower
register, momentarily conveying the profound sorrow of the isolated speaker in
the grave final movement, "Der Abscheid" (“The Farewell”) 

Opening the program was Emanuel Ax’s rendition of Bach’s
Prelude and Fugue in E-flat minor and Schoenberg’s Sechs kleine Klavierstücke. A graceful performance of the Prelude
gave way to a clunky and awkward fugue, with many of the prominent voices
banged, rather than coaxed, from the piano.

Thankfully, the Mahler delivered on almost all accounts,
and as the mezzo’s final text—“The dear earth everywhere blooms in
spring and grows green afresh! Everywhere and eternally, distant places have
blue skies! Eternally…”—rang through the hall, the audience was reminded that
the propulsive power of natures rages on, but the Earth goes on just as
powerfully, perpetually renewing and repairing itself.

Eternally.