Eire Mahler, Symphony No.2 ‘Resurrection’: Tara Erraught (soprano), Dame Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano), Nationwide Symphony Refrain Eire (refrain director: David Younger), Nationwide Symphony Orchestra Eire / Alexander Shelley (conductor). Nationwide Live performance Corridor, Dublin, 11.9.2026. (RB)
The Nationwide Symphony Orchestra Eire (NSOI) launched their new season in spectacular vogue with a efficiency of Mahler’s titanic Second Symphony underneath the baton of their principal conductor, Alexander Shelley. The NSOI gave a surprising efficiency of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony on the finish of Could, so that they actually have type on this repertoire. They had been aided on this efficiency by two distinguished soloists, Dame Sarah Connolly and Tara Erraught.
Mahler composed his Second Symphony between 1888 and 1894. He initially drafted a story programme for the work which described a hero’s wrestle, dying, and resurrection, however he later withdrew it. The symphony is an enormous 5‑motion work that charts a journey from dying, doubt, and existential wrestle to transfiguration and renewal. It begins with the standalone symphonic poem Totenfeier (‘Funeral Rites’) and culminates in a choral finale impressed by Friedrich Klopstock’s Die Auferstehung (‘Resurrection Ode’).
It was clear from this efficiency that Shelley was on high of each element within the rating and he had drilled his gamers to make sure there was a superbly coordinated response to the work’s immense calls for. Within the opening motion, the NSOI’s decrease strings introduced a visceral, jagged sense of menace to the opening theme, setting the darkish tone for the work. Shelley succeeded in attaining a vivid distinction between this opening materials and the extra expansive lyrical second topic. The music constructed to a sequence of thunderous climaxes which then scaled again into silence. These startling contrasts introduced Mahler’s terrifying funeral ceremony vividly to life. The ultimate downward chromatic scale plunged the Nationwide Live performance Corridor into silence.
In keeping with trendy customized and apply, Shelley didn’t observe Mahler’s request for a five-minute interval between the primary and second motion. The strings performed the opening of the Ländler second motion with huge cultivation and polish. The music summoned up pictures of the gilded ballrooms of fin de siècle Vienna. I used to be impressed with the diploma of readability which Shelley and the orchestra dropped at the writing and the contrasts they evinced between the sleek opening and the extra pressing materials. The pizzicato episode within the strings was a second of pure delight as violins and cellos performed melodies and counter melodies with beautiful finesse. Catriona Ryan on the flute and Andreja Malir on the harp acquitted themselves nicely.
The third motion is a grotesque scherzo which expands on Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn music, ‘St Anthony’s Sermon to the Fish’. A number of timpani strokes opened the motion earlier than the violins entered with the winding strains which run by it. Shelley urged his gamers to present form and definition to the strains. The NSOI’s principal clarinet, Matthew Billing, conjured up the eerie wailing sound Mahler calls for in his klezmer-inspired solo, serving to to create a surreal environment. The NSOI’s percussionists added to the sardonic combine with the composer’s extremely progressive results. The motion constructed to a thunderous climax earlier than the NSOI’s brass and percussion pierced by the corridor within the terrifying ‘Cry of Despair’.
The fourth motion entitled, Urlicht (‘Primeval Mild’) makes use of a standard poem from Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Dame Sarah Connolly noticed Mahler’s instruction to sing with solemnity and ease. She sang the gorgeous vocal line with quiet conviction and conveyed the extraordinary spirituality of the poem. Connolly engaged in a nuanced and affecting dialogue with the brass, strings and woodwind.
The finale of this symphony is over half-hour lengthy and may be very tough to convey off in live performance. Shelley efficiently created a coherent narrative arc by the fragmented motion. The off-stage brass calls heralding the apocalypse had been nicely coordinated with the principle orchestral narrative and had a definite and extremely evocative high quality. The ‘March of the Lifeless’ part constructed step by step to an apocalyptic climax the place the complete energy of the NSOI was unleashed. The gamers succeeded in creating an enormous vortex of sound though one at all times had the sense that Shelley was accountable for proceedings. The music subsided into silence as soon as extra creating a sense of expectation. The Nationwide Symphony Refrain Eire emerged in hushed tones, displaying excellent intonation and tonal management. Their management of dynamics was notably spectacular as they step by step emerged from the silence. Connolly and Tara Erraught floated above the refrain as their voices wove collectively. The ultimate part with organ and bells introduced the work to its wonderful ultimate apotheosis.
Total, this was an excellent efficiency of this seminal work and a good way to kick off the brand new season.
Robert Beattie
