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As the artistic festivals go, the Southbank Center Multitudes left the starting gate like a rocket. More than 11 days, the festival presents a range of music embracing other art forms, including dance, cinema, visual arts and theater, involving major names by Marina Abramović in Kirill Serebrennikov.
Halfway, the extra-musical elements turned out to be rather with success (although the movement and the acrobatics group would have provided an amazing visual bonus in Ravel Daphnis and Chloé), it was therefore the great classic musical performances that have valid the trouble.
Nothing could be bigger than Mahler's Symphony No. 8. With its huge orchestra, stimulated by additional harps, piano, celesta, harmonium, organ and two mandolins, in support of three choirs, eight solo singers and a set of out of scene, it is not nicknamed the “Symphony of a thousand” for nothing.
Most of the representations of London take place in the vast arena of the Royal Albert Hall, which could have been built by thinking of this symphony, but the London Philharmonic Orchestra remains faithful to his home, the Royal Festival Hall. More than 35 years, he has given memorable performances under three successive music directors, Klaus Tennstedt (also recorded live and in the studio), Vladimir Jurowski and now Edward Gardner.
The three were quite different. When Tennstedt spoke about eternal romantic views and Jurowski exercised exquisite details, Gardner offered an edifying statement of life. The opening “Veni Creator Spiritus” has passed as a single cry for joy. Goethe's fence scene BewilderThat Mahler placed for the second part of the symphony, followed a compulsive dramatic arch to the final image of the eternal female man in salvation.
The unique point of sale of this concert was the film and the direction of the stage which accompanied him, but where were they in all this? On three screens, the video artist Tal Rosner projected images of trees, spheres and, through the second part, a man in a fetal position. The only inspiring moment came from the stage director Tom Morris, when the man of the film appeared in real life; He crawled rear offices of the orchestra and was led by Gretchen out of the room until his redemption (perhaps in the bar outside).
Among the eight solo singers, Sopranos Sarah Wegener and Emma Bell were well contrasting and Christine Rice and Jennifer Johnston made laudable mezzos. Andrew Staples shone in the cruelly high solo of Doctor Marianus where some tenors take off. Tommi Hakala greatly sang the baritone, Derek Welton the bass confident, and the role of flashing or yourself-It to Mater Gloriosa was sung without fear by Jennifer France from a dangerously high perch among organ pipes, which was certainly a first.
Add the London Philharmonic Choir, the London Symphony Chorus and the Tiffin Boys' Choir, all well drilled and the high quality game of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and Gardner had everything he needed to direct a captivating musical performance. Is it important that we quickly forgot to watch the video screens? Not when the symphony looked like this.
★★★★ ☆
