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Posted by Robert Lang on February 17, 19103 at 14:50:37:
Manchester Hall
November 29
Philharmonia Orchestra "Anton Bruckner" (Germany)
Alexander Frey, conductor
MAHLER: Symphony No. 9
The Bruckner Philharmonia made their second visit here in the past two years, this time with the American conductor Alexander Frey, performing Gustav Mahler's Ninth Symphony. The playing of the orchestra is more refined now than during their last visit. Frey summoned forth a very lush sound from the strings in particular and brought out many rich inner voices from Mahler's beautiful score. Each climax of the work was breathtaking. One of the players in the orchestra told me after the concert that Frey worked a long time in rehearsal on reshaping the sound of the orchestra as a whole.
Kudos to the Philharmonia for beautiful solo page work by the variuos first chair players.
To the performance itself: I was extremely moved by this particular performance. There was such a sense of pathos, of the drama of life unfolding and, in the last movement, of death--life slipping away. I felt that Frey geared the whole symphony as a path to the last movement. The conductor took lots of time, bringing out every last drop of emotion in each movement. I wondered what would happen in the final adagio. Well, I was practically moved to tears by the beauty of the last movement. The conductor paced it in away that seemed to suggest a gradual letting go of life. one didn't dare breath at the end--time seemed to be suspended. This was an extremely beautiful performance. At the end of the last disappearing notes, the audience sat in silence for almost a minute before bursting in thunderous applause. It was a truly great concert performed by a wonderful young orchestra and magnificent, charismatic conductor who possesses extraordinary musical insight.