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Perfect Playing Overcomes Interpretive Idiosyncracies Houston
Jones Hall
01/31/2013 - & February 2, 3, 2013
Felix Mendelssohn: Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D Major
Houston Symphony, Christoph Koenig (conductor) 
C. Koenig (© Schmidt Artists International, Inc.)
Christoph Koenig's last performance in Jones Hall was a thrilling but one-dimensional presentation. In the current duo of works, his interpretative stance continued in the same vein. Koenig likes the grand gesture, the exaggeration and the black and white. What continues to be missed is subtle shading and interpretive nuance.
Mendelssohn's Octet, that miracle from a 16-year old's pen, is thrilling in its original form, for eight soloists. It simply doesn't come across as well with a full string orchestra involved, no matter how fine the performance is. A Toscanini specialty, playing this work with orchestral forces has always seemed odd, and even more so given its pairing on this program. The Octet is certainly a substantial work of symphonic proportions, but was that needed to create a balanced program? Surely one of Mendelssohn's youthful string symphonies, works composed for these actual forces and too rarely heard, would have been a better complement to Mahler's titanic first symphony.
Those qualms aside, the Houston Symphony strings, standing (another oddity--isn't that more of a Baroque performance practice?), played expertly. Koenig's interpretation seemed to place everything in the mezzo dynamic range, and his orientation of the strings, with all violins to the left and the violas to the right, with their F-holes facing away from the audience, caused issues with balance from the violas and a loss of antiphonal interaction between the violins. The interpretation itself was straightforward. Tempos were expected, and there were no noticeable interpretive hiccups throughout. A pleasant performance, then, but one that softened the revolutionary, unique nature of this piece.
The performance of Mahler's first symphony after intermission, again brilliantly played, brought a more sporadic reading. Koenig was most successful in the outer movements of the piece, which feature the most night-and-day dramatic shifts, apparently this conductor's bred and butter. The opening of the first movement unfolded with ethereal inevitability, and the structure was wonderfully conveyed, with perfect momentum as the movement rushed towards its scampering conclusion. The opening section of the second movement, too, was bucolic and sharply articulated, the horns in particular bringing the spritely melody to a thrilling cadence.
The oddities of interpretation began with the trio of the movement, where Mahler specifies "somewhat slower than the beginning" and "do not rush," with several "allow time" markings to boot. Koenig ignored these nuances, keeping the same tempo as the beginning, not allowing for any sentimental rubato, and even, at times, pushing forward. This movement should present a rustic scene in its outer panels and a mannered, urban scene in its trio, a contrast that was simply lost in this performance. Disappointment followed in the third movement, where Koenig decided to adopt the en vogue choice of having the entire double bass section present the minor mode "Bruder Martin" melody instead of a single double bass. Much has been made of this dictum from the "verbesserte Ausgabe" of this score, but the evidence, both from reviews of performances conducted by Mahler ("…a muted double bass presents the theme" reads one such review, from an 1893 performance conducted by the composer) and recordings left by Bruno Walter, who arguably knew more than anyone what the composer intended, indicates otherwise. It was also at this point the Koenig's fluttering left-hand hushing of various sections of the orchestra became a distraction. If the desired balance wasn't communicated effectively in rehearsal, the performance simply isn't the time to insist upon it. This midpoint marked the nadir of Koenig's insistences. Fortunately, things looked up from here on out.
The finale exploded vehemently off the page, and Koenig crafted a cinematic vision of triumph in the final pages. This movement placed a bold exclamation point on the orchestra's excellent playing throughout the concert. Brass were in particularly fine form, not only in bold passages but in the many subtle solos where Mahler requires chamber-like playing that before him had only been asked of woodwinds and strings. Woodwind solos, too, were passed around with refinement and a consistent, tasteful musicality. Indeed, the collective woodwind section is sounding marvelous. Strings covered the range of Mahler's demands with ease, from the eerie stillness of the opening of the work through the anguished, interjecting violas that usher in the finale's glorious peroration. The collective excellence of the playing in the Mahler easily overcame Koenig's interpretive ticks, and in the end the performance, and the concert as a whole, was a rewarding musical experience.
Marcus Karl Maroney
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