Bravo, Barbieri!

Certain musicologists place Mahler as symphonist in the same rank as Beethoven and Bruckner, and like these titans, he wrote nine symphonies. His almost two-hour long Symphony No. 3 in D Minor is of epic proportions, having been conceived on a vast, magnificent scale.

Further, the work is meant for a huge orchestra: as Mahler’s peers concede and recognize, he is a master of instrumentation, making use of the entire ensemble by frequently apportioning long and equally significant passages to each section throughout the five movements.

Consequently, it took rare courage for Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor Ruggero Barbieri to interpret Mahler’s Symphony because the magnum opus requires firstly, a large ensemble which the PPO is not by international standards, and secondly, the brasses, which are often severely tested by Mahler’s score, have not always been the PPO’s strongest asset. Yet, this section, as well as the other three, rose to the challenge admirably under Barbieri’s guidance and inspiration.

It should be mentioned this early that the performance was made possible by Austrian Ambassador Christian Krepela who had graciously obtained the valuable score. To heighten the significance of the coup at the CCP auditorium, a brief history of the Sydney Opera House, which was given to me during my recent visit to Australia, points with genuine pride to the fact that in 1989, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, which is twice larger than the PPO, played the Mahler Symphony under the baton of Stuart Challender, to 2,700 listeners.

Mahler insisted his Symphony is not programmatic music, that it depicts the universe and its creatures only allegorically while he aimed at "constructing the world" — in an all-embracing vision of creation. Perhaps overly ambitious, the concept means to conjure the visual, physical and tangible, e.g., flowers and beasts, as also the metaphysical and spiritual, e.g., the love of God.

How can a design of such scope and magnitude be translated into music? One might eschew the lengthy program notes and allow the music, per se, to be heard on its own because ultimately, what remains in the mind is the aural or auditory experience.

Mahler’s magnificent technical command was evident in the skilled, expert musical devices he employed for the entire orchestra. For instance, one recalls the opening salvo of the horns and the tuba, and the continuing thunder of the brasses, as well as the lengthy solo of the horn and the lambent surfacing of the oboes, fortified by the intense, vigorous thrust of the cohesive strings and the shattering impact of the percussions.

All these might have led to the richly deserved description of Mahler as a virtuoso of the orchestra. Through all these, Barbieri held a remarkably tight rein on the ensemble. The over-all effect of certain climaxes was awesome.

Even an epic has dull, vapid chapters. In other words, not all of the symphony was of absorbing interest. Dreary stretches in the rather loosely-structured score occasionally bordered on tedium and invited somnolence. Disparate passages often alternated from "weird" to melodic to martial.

Agnes Barredo’s powerful contralto was heard in the brief vocal sections (fourth and fifth movements); Chorus Philippines under Joy T. Nilo and the Mandaluyong Children’s Chorus asserted their presence in the fifth.

The final impression Mahler’s exalted Symphony gave was that of a constantly ebbing and rising tide, this conveyed through orchestral pianissimos culminating in overwhelming fortissimos. The lusty, prolonged applause could only have meant "Bravo, Barbieri!"

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CCP President Nestor D. Jardin thanked the CCP sponsors and patrons whose numbers had increased perceptibly over those of last year. Congratulations to Board Chairman Baltazar Endriga, Nes and VP Fernando C. Josef.