United Kingdom BBC Proms 2025 [9] – Mahler: Mari Eriksmoen (soprano), Emily D’Angelo (mezzo-soprano), Hallé Youth Choir, Hallé Choir, Hallé / Kahchun Wong (conductor). Royal Albert Hall, London, 2.8.2025. (AV-E)
Mahler – Symphony No.2 in C minor, ‘Resurrection’
Kahchun Wong, the new principal conductor of the Hallé, gave the finest performance I have ever heard in concert of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No 2 in C minor, ‘Resurrection’: and I have heard dozens.
Conducting without a score, Wong had complete control of his world-class orchestra during a performance welded together through a meretricious attention to detail as if treating every player as a soloist in their own right with the Hallé seemingly proving itself to be the UK’s premier orchestra.
It was a sheer delight watching Wong conduct with such elegance and aplomb, having a hypnotic hold over his exemplary players. His baton technique was as pointed and exacting as Fritz Reiner’s, whilst his left hand was used in various graceful gestures for different instruments: flickering his hand for the woodwind, cupping his hand for the strings, and closing it for the brass: this was by no means an egotistical affectation but a sign-language of distinct communication.
Wong had total control over the monumental architecture of this wayward and sporadic score where all the movements were perfectly integrated and unified into an organic whole (as if the symphony were in one movement).
In the first movement Allegro maestoso, Wong made radical tempo fluctuations giving the music an increased nervous intensity such as a rallentando (slowing down) at the climax of the first movement development, which had an overwhelming visceral effect.
The minuscule and measured broad tempos adopted by Wong in this movement reminded me of Sergiu Celibidache, and how that Romanian maestro may have conducted it.
The Andante moderato had a hushed chamber orchestra-like intimacy and delicacy with the strings shimmering with a radiant resonance; which had the attentive audience totally transfixed in silence: something rather rare at such a vast venue.
The third movement marked Calmly flowing (In ruhig fliessender Bewegung) was just that with the Hallé playing with an exhilarating enchantment, especially the incisive timpani and pointed woodwind.
In the Urlicht (Primal Light) movement, mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo lacked projection and distinction and came across as detached from the words and devoid of spiritual expression. By stark contrast, soprano Maria Eriksmoen was expressively expansive and incisively impassioned.
The final movement can often sound too fragmented and sectionalised, but Wong made it hold together through his sheer magnetism of presence and power of concentration.
The fanfares of the offstage bands were far too close-up losing the essential sense of distance required sounding somewhat artificially amplified. The Hallé Chorus and Hallé Youth Choir were simply sublime which sent shivers down the spine.
Wong resurrected Mahler’s Second Symphony from its former lives of ‘Hammer Horror’ histrionics: such was his immaculate conception.
Alexander Verney-Elliott
Featured Image: Kahchun Wong conducting soloists, choruses and the Hallé in Mahler’s ‘Resurrection’ Symphony © BBC/Chris Christodoulou
We have been fortunate in Manchester to have Kahchun Wong taking over the reins of chief conductor at the Halle and have already been treated to several wonderful concerts with the promise of many more this coming season. He is a breath of fresh air and is injecting a fresh energy into the orchestra who quite obviously love him. There is also a distinct change in the repertoire which is so refreshing. I am looking forward to the future under Kahchun Wongs baton and guidance enormously.