This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Oct. 4, 2012 - Gustav Mahler lived a dichotomous life. From his career to his creativity to his creed to his compositions, the Austrian composer-conductor was a living, breathing contrast, a man of compromise and conviction all at once.
Born and raised in the 19th century, his career spanned from the latter part of that century into the early part of the 20th.
Mahler’s work was divided between conducting and composing. He was in fact, one of the most accomplished conductors of his time, and one of the most noted composers of all time.
Eventually, he earned the conductor’s baton of the Vienna Court Opera, though that post required that Mahler convert from Judaism to Catholicism. His conversion did not stave off critics, though, who frequently fed his fiery reputation. Mahler was known for being unpredictable and passionate to the point of being brash and even volatile.
Since his death, Mahler’s compositions have made him legendary for their emotive qualities. His ability to layer the lyrical with the measured, to play off of a series of notes, slowing paces, changing octaves and interspersing majestic horns with choral. Within moments the soloist brings forth voluptuous, round and rich tones that float over, and respond to, the light bantering beat of the chorus.
Music renders the drama
For Mezzo Soprano Susan Graham, this performance must be pinpoint perfect. She likens singing with the symphony to performing under a microscope. Without the trappings of costumes and scenery that opera affords, her live performance of Mahler must be so pure and complete that it stands on its own.
“The energy and the focus is like an extreme close up,” she said. There are no stage directions; the music itself renders the drama.
“This is a much more intimate telling,” she said. “Everything gets distilled into those few moments, into that one voice.”
And what a voice it is. Critics from one coast to the other have praised her singing.
“Graham’s mezzo-soprano,” according to The New Yorker, “is a voice without regrets, healthy, rounded, ineffably musical, and eager for a challenge,”
Though known as an expert in French music and opera, Graham brings much to her performances of Mahler.
Her performance of Mahler’s “Rückert Lieder” with the San Francisco Symphony earned rave reviews. This weekend Graham will join the St. Louis Symphony, the Women of the St. Louis Symphony Chorus and the St. Louis Children’s Choirs for a full performance of Mahler’s “Symphony No. 3.”
Graham said she is looking forward to the concert because Mahler offers a palette of sound that is full of meaning and emotion.
Imagery spelled out
In six movements, which the composer named and then later expressed regret for doing so, he maps out his approach to the symphony and reinforces its imagery.
The first movement he called “Pan Awakens - Summer Marches In.” The second he dubbed “What the Flowers and Meadows Tell Me.” The third he named “What the Animals of the Forest Tell Me, and the fourth he called “What the Night (Man) Tells Me. His fifth movement is “What the Morning Bells (Angels) Tell Me, and he finishes the symphony with “What Love Tells Me.”
Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 is a tour de force of his experience with nature. It is grand and expansive, filled with power and fury, and twinkling little moments that sparkle like diamonds on velvet.
The 52-year-old Graham said she loves the expanse of the piece.
“People think that Mahler is profound and deep and heavy and worldly,” she said. “But the more I listen and sing, I realized that is not the way (the music is). There is a lightness, and there is a sense of loss, but then he lost a child of his own.”
His eldest daughter, Maria, died of scarlet fever and diphtheria.
Graham demonstrates her understanding of Mahler as sums up her role in this weekend’s performances: “The soloist is a sort of voice of the esoteric world,” she said. Then the chorus brings the redemptive even playful sound of bells.
Each offers its own perspective, its own emotional range that offers the richness of a life lived. Something Mahler himself acknowledged.
“Only when I experience something do I compose,” he said, “and only when composing do I experience.”