Should a modern maestro decline to conduct Mahler?
Pierre Boulez declined to conduct Tchaikovsky because he did not like his music. To my knowledge there are no modern maestros who do not like Mahler. But it can be argued there is a case for a courageous modern maestro to decline to conduct Mahler on the grounds that the current saturation coverage of his music, excellent as it undoubtedly is, distorts concert programmes and, even more seriously, freezes out other deserving composers. Take the case of the Bernstein 100 celebration being presented this autumn by the London Symphony Orchestra. (Should it not be Bernstein 99 as he was born in August 1918?) All five of the concerts - I am excluding the children's concert - are laudable for showcasing Bernstein's music. But only one other composer is featured. And yes, you guessed, it is Mahler. His music is programmed in two concerts, both conducted by Marin Alsop. In one the Adagio from Symphony No 10 is paired with Bernstein's Symphony No 3, ‘Kaddish’. In the other Bernstein's Symphony No 1, ‘Jeremiah’ is coupled with Mahler's First Symphony, which a few months before had received its thirteenth Proms performance in seventeen years down the road in the Albert Hall.
Yes, Bernstein played an important role in the Mahler revival. But in 1966 Lou Harrison - seen above - was awarded a financially-endowed three-year fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts. This was awarded to composers "of mature years and recognised accomplishment" and the awarding committee included Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson and upcoming birthday boy Leonard Bernstein. 2017 is the centenary of Lou Harrison's birth, but you would not think so looking at concert programmes. There were no tribute performances of his music in this year's BBC Proms season. In fact his music has only ever been performed twice at the Proms; both times in his 80th anniversary year when populism had not entirely hijacked concert planning.
Lou Harrison's Symphony No 2, Elegiac, his Third Symphony and many of his other works - who can not like his Piano Concerto? - demand to be heard in the concert hall. When will a maestro have the courage to say "That's enough Mahler, let's give some other composers a chance"? Have we really reached the point where the only way to make a concert financially viable is to include a Mahler symphony? Memo to the London Symphony Orchestra's new music director. London may, arguably, need a new concert hall. But London, without doubt, needs less performances of Mahler's First Symphony.
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Yes, Bernstein played an important role in the Mahler revival. But in 1966 Lou Harrison - seen above - was awarded a financially-endowed three-year fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts. This was awarded to composers "of mature years and recognised accomplishment" and the awarding committee included Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson and upcoming birthday boy Leonard Bernstein. 2017 is the centenary of Lou Harrison's birth, but you would not think so looking at concert programmes. There were no tribute performances of his music in this year's BBC Proms season. In fact his music has only ever been performed twice at the Proms; both times in his 80th anniversary year when populism had not entirely hijacked concert planning.
Lou Harrison's Symphony No 2, Elegiac, his Third Symphony and many of his other works - who can not like his Piano Concerto? - demand to be heard in the concert hall. When will a maestro have the courage to say "That's enough Mahler, let's give some other composers a chance"? Have we really reached the point where the only way to make a concert financially viable is to include a Mahler symphony? Memo to the London Symphony Orchestra's new music director. London may, arguably, need a new concert hall. But London, without doubt, needs less performances of Mahler's First Symphony.
Also on Facebook and Twitter. Any copyrighted material is included as "fair use" for critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s).
Comments
http://www.overgrownpath.com/2010/10/are-authentic-performances-silly.html
Now as for Mahler, I do know one conductor, whose name I will not disclose here, who will not perform ANY of Mahler's symphonies or song cycles (and if he did, it was probably because it was early in his career), but I'm sure you have a few that also will not perform Mahler for a myriad of reasons. Myself? At age 60 I have yet to perform a Mahler symphony, and if I do I definitely want to perform the second, sixth and tenth symphonies first, and with the tenth I'll do the Cooke or Gamzou editions if I have a large orchestra, or the Carvalho or Castelletti versions designed for chamber orchestra.
But to Robert's comments regarding other composers, I certainly do agree with him, because we can't be wedded to the Three B's or the status quo of standard repertoire forever. And as for Alsop doing just the Adagio of Mahler 10, I feel she is doing that because Bernstein condemned ANY performing edition of a complete Tenth during his lifetime, Cooke's included.
As I look at the book supply chain decimated by Amazon, I think aren't market forces wonderful.
As I see our local music festival struggling against massive funding cuts, I think aren't market forces wonderful.
As I listen to BBC Radio 3 which is blighted by aping commercial radio, I think aren't market forces wonderful.
No, not everyone wants to be a producer. But it breaks the hearts of some people to see what market forces are doing to the arts.
I'm all for it, myself, unless, of course, the alternative is Bernstein's music*. In that case: Please give me Mahler's First always and every time.
(*notable exception made for Candide in any form.)