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The Fateful Hammer of Destiny Milano
Teatro alla Scala
01/13/2025 - & January 17 (Milano), 19 (Cremona), 20 (Milano), 2025
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 6 in A Minor
Filarmonica della Scala, Lorenzo Viotti (conductor)
L. Viotti (© Desiré van den Berg)
Highly admired by Alban Berg, who in a letter to Anton Webern wrote of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony: “Es gibt doch nur eine VI. trotz der Pastorale” (“There is only one Sixth, notwithstanding [Beethoven’s] Pastoral”). It is thought by many to be Mahler’s most structurally perfect symphony. In contrast to Mahler’s other major symphonic works, which end in either triumph or transcendence, Mahler’s Sixth ends tragically. Nicknamed “The Tragic,” it was not thus titled by Mahler. However, its association with tragedy became entrenched due his wife Alma’s statement: “in the last movement, Mahler described himself and his downfall, or as he later said, that of his hero. ‘It is the hero on whom is dealt three blows of fate, the last of which fells him, as a tree is felled.’ Those were his words.”
Strangely enough, Mahler was at his peak, both personally and professionally, when he wrote this symphony. Prophetically, it described three tragic events to come shortly after: the death of his daughter Maria, his resignation from the Vienna Opera due to intrigue, and the diagnosis of a heart condition that would ultimately lead to his death.
The first movement is thought to represent the hero before his fall, a necessary presentation of glorious times, needed to foreshadow the ensuing tragedy. In that sense, this movement is reminiscent of Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben. This may explain the somewhat fast tempo adopted by Swiss conductor Lorenzo Viotti. However, I am not sure this tempo affirms an element of joy or well‑being in the first movement. An element of bombast in Mahler’s self‑image of his former self is conveyed by the heaviness of the sound of the movement’s march. Indeed, Mahler marks the movement as Heftig.
The second movement, Scherzo, is the counterpart to the opening movement. Viotti managed to convey unease in the grotesque Ländler in this movement; the bucolic sound is dissonant and unsettling. The woodwinds were particularly effective in this movement’s trios.
The third movement, Andante, is often where some conductors resort to excessively slow tempi to accentuate the composer’s self‑pity. Mercifully, Viotti avoids this pitfall, as there is considerable unease beneath the apparent calm. Nonetheless, he produced a soft melancholic ambiance, in part thanks to the appropriately plaintive wind solos.
The finale is renowned for its overwhelming “hammer of destiny,” struck twice. In fact, in the original 1904 version, it was struck three times, but it was reduced in the definitive 1906 version to avoid excess. The buildup to the first hammer strike was eloquently determined. The second hammer strike was shatteringly more so. Here, Viotti was at his best and appropriately his darkest. Though the work describes the hero’s tragic fall, the work (especially the final movement) evokes resilience rather than defeat.
Given the intensity of the work and the great wisdom, de rigueur in most performances, of having no introductory short work preceding it, left the audience in awe, emotionally exhausted, an inevitable outcome following this great work. The justifiably intense applause reflected the public’s heartfelt appreciation.
Ossama el Naggar
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