Sonic and visual spectacle: Mahler’s ‘Resurrection’ Symphony is the LPO’s season opener

United Kingdom Mahler: Sally Matthews (soprano), Beth Taylor (mezzo-soprano), London Philharmonic Choir (artistic director: Neville Creed), Members of the BBC Symphony Chorus, London Philharmonic Orchestra / Edward Gardner (conductor). Royal Festival Hall, London 23.9.2023. (JR)

Mahler – Symphony No.2 (‘Resurrection’)

There are few works to rival a Mahler ‘Resurrection’ Symphony for sonic and visual spectacle with which to open an orchestra’s new season. Nearly 130 orchestral players (including those offstage) and a massive 175 chorus members – the London Philharmonic Choir being augmented by 40 from the BBC Symphony Chorus – raising the roof at the end of the finale. But more of that anon.

Mahler was clearly a depressive by nature, even in his late twenties, when he came to compose his Second Symphony, dark feelings found expression in his music. The themes seek to convey life and death, anguish, anxiety and, ultimately, hope. Gardner clearly grasped and comprehended the structure of the work; his opening bars were flung at the audience as a statement of intent – we knew we were in business. Cries of anguish from woodwind and brass, the double basses thwacking their instruments without restraint, horns raising their bells, timpanists often using hardest of sticks.

Though the attacks were continual, Gardner was equally impressive in the quieter passages and movements which offered peace and respite; the two harps were especially well coordinated. The slow second movement was played with the utmost delicacy.

The two singers were very well matched to the work. Young Scottish mezzo-soprano Beth Taylor was an utter revelation, hers is a name to watch; she is clearly already much in demand. She bloomed in her ‘Urlicht’, after a beautifully soft, mesmerising opening. She was most expressive and German diction exemplary (she has sung a great deal in Germany, but this was her debut with the LPO). She was accompanied by three fine trumpeters (Paul Beniston, Anne McAneney and Tom Nielsen). Soprano Sally Matthews donned her angel wings and soared impressively high above the stave.

The finale (Im Tempo des Scherzos) was, inevitably, the final showdown. After the orchestra had hinted at what was to come, the chorus began, some seated, some standing with some wonderfully hushed sounds, most evocative. When they rose to sing at full volume, the Earth moved. Their German diction was faultless too, offstage trumpets and horns returned to the hall to stand between the choirs and add heft, then the Royal Festival Hall organ joined in to further increase the decibels. The percussionist hammered his tubular bells, the brass let rip. It sent shivers down my spine. Technically, this may not have been a flawless performance (few live major Mahler symphonies are), but this was an incredible team effort and an uplifting performance. For the many who missed it, it was recorded and filmed by the LPO and will be available at some later stage on the orchestra’s own label and for the Apple Music Classical app.

The audience played their part too: in the quiet sections, you could have heard a pin drop. And then, after the choir had told us we would all rise again (‘Auferstehen’), at the end of the work there was an immediate standing ovation – very well deserved.

Not every city can put on a large-scale Mahler symphony with such success; it needs a big hall to accommodate the huge sound, a professional chorus of size and quality (which can also sing in proficient German), a fine orchestra and a more than competent conductor attuned with Mahler. Thankfully, London is one of those few cities and this was a performance to relish and remember.

John Rhodes