Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
Jaap van Zweden (conductor)
Among all the symphonies by Mahler, I felt the seventh musically most complex and experimental. This performance by HKPO was the second time I heard the symphony in live and like any revisit one was still awe by each new discovery. Jaap took a rather slow and steady tempo for the introduction of the first movement. It felt rather heavy and lacked forwardness. Though I was impressed by the bright and bodied from the brass and caught up more momentum as the orchestra galloped more. The thematic development was almost abstract to an extent and nothing fixed. It became a thick and raging gallop as the music piling up texturally.
In contrast, the picturesque image of lake and natural landscape were more apparent in the quiet passage. It was also more romantic and sentimental than before. Though the focus turned away to a sombre funeral march played by the lower strings and brass. It then grew into a flamboyant explosion of thematic repetitions, which the orchestra gave a weighty and dramatic built up. The climaxes were emotionally driven and wild howls thundering along to shake the world in sheer intensity.
The second movement instead turned to melancholy and recalling the wunderhorn symphonies. Texturally lighter with some hints of humour but sarcastic the same time. It felt alike a spirited ride in the countryside while waltzing along. The depiction of an unsettling night with cow bells and melancholy dance felt rather enigmatic.
There was more urgency and abstraction to the scherzo of the third movement. The dance patterns grew more grotesque and energetically motivated. Jaap let the music to lead the shape as the orchestra sailed the continuous change of musical shapes. It did not lose the energy and sustained the rhythmic activeness throughout. Though the thinking seems lacked some depth despite being musically driven.
Finally the strings and winds could play with more warmth in the scenic fourth movement. A gentle serenade to an extent but underneath increasingly nervous and unsettling. The ebbs and flows of emotion swelled, which the lyrical dance theme negotiates with sentiments. It was not a wholehearted happiness but a sudden surge of inner excitement.
The beginning of the fifth movement marked by the triumphant and majestic gallop that gloriously rendered. Jaap took a rather swift tempo to allow the orchestral excitement exploded in fullness. Structurally the last movement was more classically orientated and square in phrasing. The brass fanfare was decorated by elaborate winds' descant. It was another explosion of thematic and rhythmic experimentation, which culminated to madness with different parts clashing into a chaos. Yet it was Mahler in exuberant mode at the recapitulation of the opening triumphant theme by stamping hard and wildly driven. A virtuosic part for the timpanist with the orchestra built towards an explosive and intense conclusion. Most impressive performance as a whole and still amaze me that HKPO is continuing to perfect their playing.
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