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Two Eternal Works: European Chamber Orchestra at the Dresden Music Festival
Dresden.A number of musical features have already been launched at the Dresden Music Festival this 45th year. However, Dresden’s guest performance of the European Chamber Orchestra, led by Sir Simon Rattle, once again clearly stood out from the concert series. Visitors at Kulturpalast listened as if they were hypnotized; After Sir Simon lowered the wand, a long, breathless silence ensued in the hall, filled with many thoughts and feelings, and finally endless rejoicing.
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The orchestra interpreted two works, each filled with feelings of transience and farewell by the composer. Gustav Mahler’s “Lied von der Erde” also contains in its many verses happy, life-affirming passages entitled “Youth” or “Beauty”. But don’t they just create the fatal fall, telling of a time that will never return and slowly fade into our memories? And Mahler, who was intent on the outcome, is said to have told the premiere leader, “What do you think? Is that possible at all? Won’t people kill themselves then?”
The agonizing enthusiasm that is almost overwhelming in this business; Plain and simple, that after that one can no longer tolerate any music, this is the categorical argument for placing it last in the association with the “Metamorphoses” of the elderly Richard Strauss. “Metamorphoses”, completed in April 1945, is in turn a final farewell to an entire lifetime, which makes it very difficult to have a friendly gossip on the balcony during a break. Rattle colors the sounds with the little string orchestra wrapped around him in a dark brown in late fall.
The hall still needs a delicate balance
This has already shown how difficult it is to coordinate the various records at this point after all the upgrade procedures for the past five years. The deep black background of the double triples, cello and viola cantellina dominated the high strings throughout. And later Mahler singers Magdalena Kožená and Andrew Staples – as well as concert director Lorenza Borrani – had to struggle audibly in chamber orchestra adaptation of the composition Mahler written by Glen Cortese in 2006 to get away from the wonderful woody winds, horns and not have to lose the courage of the two horns in the back of the stage.
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How these orchestral groups sounded, and how close they were to the action, while the sounds placed at the front edge of the stage, could only be heard in the central portico as if through a thick cotton cloud. Here the auditorium still needs a very careful balancing of records and clever positioning on the stage, as Rattle and the group, who have been on the program for so long, appeared in Luxembourg last night and in the next few days, among other places, perhaps the Wiener Musikverein and Elbphilharmonie did not with the necessary patience.
Incidentally, the acoustics of the Kulturpalast Hall are currently finely tuned for the new “Casals Forum” of the Kronberg Academy, whose first resident orchestra was the Chamber orchestra in Europe. They certainly combined their experiences from Dresden there, so that Mahler’s preparation of the poet’s words to Hans Betheg could soon be heard: “I am long, my friend, to enjoy the beauty of this evening by your side. Where are you? You leave me alone for so long!”
Written by Martin Morgenstern