Singers take the spotlight in Met Chamber Ensemble’s slimmed-down Mahler
The Met Orchestra Chamber Ensemble concert Monday night in Weill Recital Hall had an odd shape to it. Classical programs usually put shorter and lighter pieces first, then the big, heavy music at the end. This was no exception, but the proportions were in the extreme.
With Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (in the chamber reduction by Arnold Schoenberg and Rainer Riehn) on the second half, the sum of all the parts was quite high. Facing Mahler was Emmanuel Chabrier’s ‘L’Invitation au voyage” and Thomas Adès’ Alchymia, an odd juxtaposition.
Soprano Susanna Phillips sang Chabrier’s charmer, accompanied by bassoonist William Short and pianist Bryan Wagorn. A light, elegant way to open any chamber music concert, Phillips gave it on equally elegant reading. Her sound was lovely, Short’s reedy timbre a fine mix, and this was a well-shaped performance, both phrase by phrase and through the overall form. But one was bemused by an invitation to a voyage that would end with “Der Abschied.”
Adès’ clarinet quintet was a better fit for the the coming mood. He is a composer who often seems like he’s trying to impress the listener with his knowledge of musical history. Alchymia is very much an Alban Berg piece, in the dark, languid feeling and lyricism, and there are touches of Schubert’s Shepherd on the Rock. There are also supposed references to Elizabethan alchemy, although the ear heard more Lawes than Byrd.
With Anton Rist playing the basset clarinet (with an extended lower range and richer chalumeau quality), the instrument had a dusky and mellow sound, and there was good, relaxed concentration in the performance. As a composition, Alchymia is a set of gestures, neatly put together and attractive as they pass by, but paradoxically becoming less substantial the more they accumulate.
Beyond the rare chance to hear the chamber Das Lied, this concert had the attraction of its soloists, mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung and tenor Ben Bliss. DeYoung is deeply experienced in this music, while Bliss is a prominent Mozart tenor. What would they be like together?
The answer was: tremendous. More than two singers, there are two characters in this song symphony. The tenor is part eager vivaciousness, and part crazed darkness—and that’s just in the first song. The strength and verve of Bliss’s voice was immediately impressive, and his vehemence was fantastic, whether reaching for high notes or driving home Mahler’s descending lines. The weight and substance of his sound was just right, musically compelling while also natural in the everyman sense that Mahler envisioned when he created the piece. “Das Trinklied von Jammer der Erde” was fantastic, Bliss swinging back and forth between whistling past the graveyard and seeing through the veil of life into the abyss.
One has heard DeYoung in this music before, but never with such deep, clear communication. She articulated each note with great thoughtfulness and expression, and everything seemed sculpted out of the color, roundness, and flow of her sound. Technically, things like her entrance in “Der Einsame Im Herbst” were scintillating, but the understanding of the warmth and vitally of her interpretation in “Von der Schönheit” was exceptional.
Met music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducted, and while one never knows what to expect from his Mahler, he is a reliable accompanist and put the singers on display. Tempos were fine and he was judicious Monday about where and how much to indulge in extra emphasis.
“Der Abschied” was wonderful, with Nézet-Séguin giving DeYoung as much space as she needed. The purely instrumental passages were played with great beauty and expression, and the final pages were marvelous. At the end, as the applause started to grow, De Young wiped away her tears.
The Met Orchestra Chamber Ensemble plays Puccini, Rota, Verdi, and more, 2 p.m., Sunday, May 11. carnegiehall.org
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