Ravinia 2023 Issue 3

STEPHANIE GIRARD (COOKE) technique—exacted a high price from the usually fluent composer. The stylistic quan- dary posed by his largest, most prominent symphonic scherzo rested in “the high degree of artistic mastery it requires in all relation- ships and details. As with a Gothic cathedral, the apparent chaos must resolve itself into the highest order and harmony.” Never complete- ly satisfied with the results, Mahler continual- ly revised the symphony—mainly its orches- tration—until shortly before his death. Mahler’s public disavowal of external inspira- tion does not preclude an underlying message behind this symphony. Despite lacking firm evidence from the composer, many writers have inferred meaning from Mahler’s work- ing chronology and musical content. In the second volume of his Mahler biography, Hen- ry-Louis de La Grange offered the following interpretation of the Scherzo : “It can thus be seen as a Dankgesang eines Genesenen (‘Song of Thanks of One Restored to Health’) like the third movement of Beethoven’s Quartet No. 15. It is one of Mahler’s most optimistic compositions, breathing happiness and joie de vivre .” After the arduously conceived Scherzo , Mahler composed two prefatory move- ments—a Trauermarsch (Funeral March) and a vehement fast essay—that collectively form Part I. The title Trauermarsch leaves lit- tle question of Mahler’s intention. Bitter tones thread throughout this movement in the guise of an ominous minor-key trumpet fanfare. (The entire symphony progresses key-wise from C-sharp minor through A minor, D ma- jor, and F major to end in D major.) Mahler heightens this musical anguish in the subse- quent Stürmisch bewegt (Stormily agitated). Combined, these two movements likely por- tray the composer’s close brush with death. The Fifth’s themes of morbidity coexist with another musical subtext: Mahler’s blossom- ing love for the young Alma Schindler. They met at a dinner party on November 7, but their civility quickly disintegrated into a loud Gustav Mahler (1904) battle of opinions over the merits of a ballet by Alma’s music teacher, Alexander Zemlin- sky, which Gustav refused to conduct at the Vienna Opera. He was smitten by the spirited 22-year-old, but she requited his affection more slowly. Their marriage took place on March 9, 1902, and a daughter, Maria, was born on November 3. The exquisite symphonic Adagietto directly reflects the composer’s affection for Alma. Recently rediscovered evidence contradicts a long-standing tradition in which this piece became another lugubrious movement. Dutch conductor Willem Mengelberg, a cel- ebrated interpreter of Mahler’s symphonies, wrote the following marginal note in his score: “This Adagietto was Gustav Mahler’s declaration of love to Alma! Instead of a let- ter, he confided it in this movement without a word of explanation. She understood and replied: He should come!!! (I have this from both of them!).” Part I. The solo trumpet fanfare may recall military brass cadences Mahler heard as a youth. Considering the symphonic con- nection with the composer’s love affair and marriage to Alma, one should also note the coincidental rhythmic resemblance to the “Wedding March” in Mendelssohn’s A Mid- summer Night’s Dream . Horns interject an- other heroic/tragic idea. The Trauermarsch begins with a steady string melody. Shortened trumpet fanfares spring forth between march phrases. Violins introduce a highly impas- sioned theme of desperation, accompanied by brass countermelodies. The trumpet fan- fare leads to a return of the funereal theme in the winds. The string choir introduces a final minor-key theme, increasing in tension with the growing force of its brass accompa- niment. A condensed fanfare concludes the movement on a note of resignation. Mahler enhances his symphonic drama in the Stürmisch bewegt movement with a frantic alternation of melodic fragments in the bass instruments and loud, punctuating outbursts Gustav Mahler and daughter Maria Anna of high strings and trumpet. The composer considered this piece the symphony’s first movement after the introductory funer- al march. “With greatest vehemence,” the strings proclaim an overwrought, anguished melody. Returning to the funeral march’s tempo, the cellos introduce an elegant, lyr- ical theme partnered with a short–short– short–long accompanying rhythm. A lengthy development explores various contrapuntal combinations of themes. (Mahler became en- grossed in study of Bach’s music at this time.) The agitated main themes return, climaxing in a brass and woodwind chorale tune, which the composer identifies in the score as the movement’s “high point.” Part II. Mahler compounded his composi- tional difficulties in the Scherzo by incorpo- rating the Ländler style into his symphonic framework, thus ennobling the folk dance form. A horn fanfare slowly grows into the Ländler melody, which expands through con- trapuntal elaboration and varying orchestral timbres. As a contrasting trio, Mahler intro- duces a waltz, a dance associated with a com- pletely different social class. Trumpets rein- troduce the Ländler. Another tranquil theme provides a second trio. The movement con- cludes with fugal expansions of the Ländler and trio melodies. Part III. The Adagietto confession of love becomes a song-without-words in Mahler’s hands. Its formal plan is simplicity itself—a poignant string melody, its modulatory de- velopment, and a return to the original. The reduced instrumentation for harp and strings enhances the polished lyricism and textural delicacy. A simple horn gesture precedes a fragmentary bassoon remembrance of Mahler’s Wunder- horn song “Lob des hohen Verstundes.” This introduction establishes an open-air “nature” mood that blossoms into the first section of the Rondo-Finale : a horn choir theme with cello drone accompaniment. Strings begin a streaming fugato, a technique employed in ample measure throughout the movement. Mahler restores the pastoral theme and fu- gal continuation before introducing a lyrical melody derived from the Adagietto ’s middle section. These ideas alternate with great free- dom. The brass introduce a new hymn near the end. An accelerating coda builds to an exciting, succinct conclusion. –Program notes and translations © 2023 Todd E. Sullivan MARIN ALSOP, conductor For Marin Alsop’s biography, see page 45. SASHA COOKE Recently appointed co-director of the Leh- rer Vocal Institute at the Music Academy of the West, two-time Grammy-winning mez- zo-soprano Sasha Cooke has frequently been featured by the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, English National Opera, Seattle Opera, Opéra National de Bordeaux, and Gran Teatre del Liceu, among other companies and theaters. She has also been a guest soloist with more than 80 orchestras worldwide, often singing works by Mahler. Highlights of the past couple seasons include Cooke’s role debut as Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and performances as Ed- uige in Handel’s Rodelinda at the Met, and she recently returned to Houston Grand Opera in her role debut as Thirza in a new production of Smyth’s The Wreckers . Appearing exten- sively on the concert stage, she collaborated with conductor Gemma New on performanc- es of Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with the New Zealand Symphony and both Jake Heggie’s The Work at Hand and Elgar’s Sea Pictures with the Saint Louis Symphony. Adding to her Mahler credits, Cooke recently debuted with Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Symphony No. 3, sang Das Lied von der Erde with the Houston Sympho- ny, was a soloist in Symphony No. 2 with the Oregon Symphony, and sang the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with both the New World Symphony and Minnesota Orchestra, also appearing with the latter in Symphony No. 8. Cooke also debuted with the Utah Symphony in Mendelssohn’s Elijah , which she later per- formed with the NDR Elbphilharmonie, and she sang Michael Tilson Thomas’s Medita- tions on Rilke with both the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics under his baton. In recital at the Tucson Desert Song Festival with pianist Myra Huang, she gave the world premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s song cycle Sum- mer Music . Last year Cooke released her latest Grammy-nominated recording, how do I find you , 17 songs written during 2020 by Caro- line Shaw, Nico Muhly, Missy Mazzoli, and Jimmy Lopez, among others, which she has performed at the San Francisco Symphony, Shriver Hall, and the Kaufman Music Cen- ter, among other venues. Sasha Cooke was a Ravinia Steans Music Institute fellow in 2006 and is making her first return to the festival. RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIA MAGAZINE 27