Salzburg Festival: The laments sound better than the cheers [premium]

Gustavo Dudamel, known for his energetic conducting style, led the Vienna Philharmonic in their summer opening concert at the Salzburg Festival, performing Gustav Mahler's Second Symphony, the "Resurrection Symphony." The concert, held the evening before the official festival opening, carried high expectations due to the symphony's grand themes of transcendence and universal embrace.

The performance started strong, with Dudamel organizing the first movement, originally conceived as a standalone tone poem titled "Todtenfeier," with unyielding intensity. The music was described as stark and taut, avoiding the potential sentimentality in its more lyrical passages. The Vienna Philharmonic's strings contributed the necessary emotion with their beautifully executed portamenti. The second movement also impressed with its delicate colors and fine lines, shifting between celestial grace and glimpses into abyssal depths.

However, the interpretative spark began to fade in the third movement, Mahler's instrumental version of the "Wunderhorn" song "Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt." This section, which Berio later incorporated into his "Sinfonia," passed by with little distinction. The disappointment was further amplified in the crucial "Urlicht" movement, the first vocal part of the symphony, which serves as a programmatic transition to the final judgment and resurrection.

Mezzo-soprano Nadezhda Karyazina, who had previously impressed in Mussorgsky's "Chowanschtschina," was deemed a "total failure" in this performance. While she sang all the notes, her delivery was characterized by a metallic uniformity, slight wavering, indistinct diction, and a lack of the required soft, rounded piano. This vocal weakness significantly detracted from the symphony's build-up to the climactic finale.