I consider Gustav Mahler’s music to be one of the most important gifts of what art can give to the humanity.
This music, which has a deep reason to exist, refers to a lot of aspects of the human life. It is very interesting to look at the stories which are behind his music and to observe how important it was for him, not just to create beautiful music, but to give a message that enriches the soul of the ones who listen. Mahler is not afraid to address the reality, his idea was not to create fine art but to ‘talk’ openly about love, beauty, suffering and death. And this is exactly the privilege of music, to speak beyond words, to touch people’s hearts, where normal words cannot reach.
Mahler knew very well about the special power of musical “language”, and the unique ability to create beauty through music even when expressing things that are not so beautiful. If there would exist an institution of a “musical prophet”, I would consider Gustav Mahler to be certainly one of them.
Now, if such a great score as his second symphony arrives to the hands of a conductor, one of the first things to recognize is that the composer was a great conductor. Not only, because he left us very detailed markings and comments, but also, one can simply see (and hear), that Gustav Mahler knew, how to “make it work”, how to create a really very special and beautiful orchestral sound, that can be really massive and clear at the same time, a sound, that is a typical “Gustav Mahler sound”.
This sound is, for us musicians, the language to learn. There are so many kinds of forte, piano, espressivo, that just to be loud or soft does not exist in his music and so many kinds of articulation, to make the music speak, to keep it alive. And yet, after one would have done everything, which is written in the score, there is something more to be done. With Gustav Mahler’s music one is invited and has to “go to the edge”, to give everything, to live it as a professional, as a person and a lot of other aspects…
And this is what we would like to experience at the concert in St David’s Hall, to live the music, all together. The Orchestra and the Chorus of the Welsh National Opera, the Community Chorus, the soloists, the audience, every single one coming together to experience the joy of music.
October 20.