Dr. Colin Eatock, composer
  • Home
  • About Colin Eatock
  • Composing
  • Catalogue of works
  • Writing about music
  • Eatock Daily (blog)
  • New and upcoming
  • Contact me

Symphony of a Thousand at the TSO

6/14/2012

1 Comment

 
Picture
The TSO tackles Mahler's Eighth (photo: John Loper).
I was at Roy Thomson Hall last night – and was reminded of the first time I saw the inside Toronto’s flagship concert venue, way back in 1985. At the time, the hall reminded me of the core of a nuclear reactor.

The reactor image sprang vividly back to my mind last night, when I heard the TSO, with sundry choirs and soloists, perform Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 – the “Symphony of a Thousand.” From the first downbeat, the TSO’s performance exceeded critical mass, and was at times in danger of a complete meltdown.


To be sure, the score presents quite a challenge to any conductor to dares to take it on. Especially in Part I, there’s such an abundance of musical forces and ideas that making sense of it all can be no easy matter. Alas, conductor Peter Oundjian was not especially successful in sorting the gargantuan piece out. In fact, his goal seemed to be the opposite: to pit the musical forces at his disposal against one another. And the resulting racket seemed to reach the acoustical limits of the venue.

For the choirs (the Toronto Mendelssohn, the Amadeus, the Elmer Iselers and the Toronto Children’s Chorus) the performance turned into a giant screamfest. And when eight brass players up in the balcony stood up to add to the din, they could hardly be heard (from where I was sitting). There was simply too much sound in the hall already.


Fortunately, things cooled down substantially in Part II. Here, Mahler displays some strategic restraint in his deployment of instrumental forces. Oundjian picked up on the distinctions between foreground and background written into the score, to show off various sections to good effect.

It also became possible to distinguish one vocal soloist from another. And the seven Canadian soloists at the front of the stage – and one more up in the organ loft – all had their moments to shine. (They were sopranos Erin Wall, Twyla Robinson and Andriana Chuchman, altos Susan Platts and Anita Krause, tenor John Mac Master, baritone Tyler Duncan and bass Robert Pomakov.)

It’s tempting, from a critical perspective, to view a performance such as this as a kind of singing competition, and say, “She was the best, he was second-best, she was third-best,” and so on. But what mattered more was how the singers’ individual efforts contributed to the work as a whole. I’m happy to say that there wasn’t a weak link in the chain: all soloists distinguished themselves with skillful, stylish and dramatic performances.

As you may have guessed by now, gentle reader, Mahler’s Eighth isn’t exactly my favourite piece of music. I’m well aware that some people find the overwhelming force of the piece quite thrilling. But I’ve never felt there was any good musical reason to bring so many performers together at once.

The TSO’s performance did nothing to change my view: nothing exceeds like excess.


© Colin Eatock 2012
1 Comment
Vanessa link
1/22/2014 02:16:21 am

It’s really helpful information for everyone.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Eatock Daily

    I'm a composer based in Toronto – and this is my classical music blog, Eatock Daily.

    When I first started blogging, Eatock Daily was a place to re-post the articles I wrote for Toronto’s Globe and Mail and National Post newspapers, the Houston Chronicle, the Kansas City Star and other publications.

    But now I have stepped back from professional music journalism, and I'm spending more time composing.

    These days, my blog posts are infrequent, and are mostly concerned with my own music. However, I do still occasionally post comments on musical topics, including works I've discovered, enjoyed, and wish to share with others.


    – CE

    Archives

    March 2022
    July 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    June 2020
    September 2019
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011

    Index

    Click here for an alphabetical list of blog entries.

    RSS Feed

    Follow colineatock on Twitter
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.