Tanglewood, Lenox MA
by Frank Aronson
Two composers known for their dramatic compositions provided a diverse evening of music.
The first piece by John Williams was begun in 2022 and had its world premiere on this night by the BSO and the incomparable Emanuel Ax. The second piece, Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony, was originally composed between 1884-1888, though the version conducted by Andris Nelsons premiered in Hamburg in 1893.
Just as Mahler stood on the shoulders of Beethoven and Bruckner before him, Williams has drawn inspiration throughout his career from late Romantic composers like Mahler. What the two works had in common was a reliance upon the density of a full orchestra paired with the use of smaller ensembles within.
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| Andris Nelson, Photo: Lisa-Marie-Mazzucco |
Williams’ concerto is a piece devised in three movements, each section being an homage to jazz piano greats: Art Tatum, Bill Evans, and Oscar Peterson. The dissonant chord clusters and Rachmaninoff-like virtuosity of Tatum; the lyrical, dream-like qualities of Evans; and the frenetic muscularity of Peterson were readily apparent in this work. Williams uses the orchestra in its fullest form, even including a celesta in his orchestration, sometimes doubling Ax’s artistry.
Upon the conclusion of first portion of the evening, the audience was treated to the thrill of an appearance by Mr. Williams himself, who acknowledged the thunderous applause of appreciation. A perennial favorite and former conductor of the Boston Pops, Williams seemed overjoyed by the response.
The concert continued after the intermission with a somewhat enlarged orchestra, which is always the case with a Mahler symphony. This music often draws upon themes developed in the composer's song cycle “Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen” (“Songs of the Wayfarer”) and is bathed in the sounds of nature.
The concert sections flow from the slow awakening of morning in the first movement, complete with the sounds of cuckoos and other fauna in the orchestration, to the “sturm und drang” of the 4th movement, which also manages to restore the themes and sound explored earlier in the work. Mahler uses the orchestra in all its fullness to great effect but is also capable of paring it down to small ensembles and solo passages that give the piece an enormously complex dynamic range.
Andris Nelsons has proven himself to be a gifted interpreter of Mahler, continuing in the practice of a long line of Boston Symphony Orchestra conductors. It’s a delight to see this happen.
