This week it appears that the late summer tour along European top festivals appears to be the most striking Concertgebouworkestieuwtje, but the announcement of the new ‘Global Partner’. The Magnum Ice Cream Company will take over the sponsor of Unilever from this season. The ice creams and the orchestra “share a rich history with a strong international character and a mission: creating special moments,” said the press release. The concert visitor who was looking for an ice cream during the break came out of it: Magnums were not sold in the Concertgebouw.
The Concertgebouw Orchestra traditionally starts the new concert season with the warm play of the programs that guarantee its international reputation at the major European music festivals and in important concert halls. Janine Jansen soloed last week Violin concert no. 1 van Prokofjev (in addition to Mozarts ‘Parisian’ Symphony and the often played Concert for Orchestra Van Bartók)-Of course, under the direction of the new chief conductor Klaus Mäkelä starting in 2027. On Tuesday, such an iron program, public and touring favorite followed: Mahlers Fifth symphonyplayed 154 times since 1906.
For the orchestra under Mäkelä it was the first time. Mäkelä led the Fifth symphony Earlier (last year in Verbier), with the Concertgebouw Orchestra he put this spring a glowing one First down. But conducting the Fifthwith his life and love in sighs of ‘adagietto’ that it made it to the most famous mahler music – that is certainly as an upcoming chief of an orchestra with such a rich Mahler tradition, having something like new business cards printed.
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Great strength
It became a fascinating journey – and that is not a reviewer cliché. The Symphony has really traits from a train journey along various stations under Mäkelä. The quirky is that (certainly in the final part) is sometimes surprised at small stations, or that with high energy key moments slide past where you as a listener would have wanted to remove a little longer. If you compare the Mahler of Mäkelä with those of conductors such as Iván Fischer (intelligent, contrast -rich, folky) or his predecessor Daniele Gatti (quirky to the bone), he is more traditional, romantic, strongly melodic oriented. There is also a great force in this. The great soloists within the orchestra can excel freely. Rarely do you hear string melodies (especially in the cello group) more beautiful and more contagious in their melancholy elegance than under Mäkelä, and that is quite a merit. The ‘adagietto’ floats as a breath without pulse, elusive ethereal. What can still grow is the dosage of volume (much sounds hard) and daring to allow light -heartedness.
In Berio’s Rendering (1989, to Franz Schubert) Mäkelä shows another power: his insight into and a grip on form. Fully convincingly zap Schubert’s classicism and Berio’s modernism kaleidoscopically together. But because Mäkelä controls every movement, the sensation of coherent unit-in-separation is constantly retained. Special. And very handsome.