On a cold, wet and unseasonably wintry October evening, the Berliner Philharmoniker’s performance of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony with Gustavo Dudamel was truly special. What a way to celebrate the 60th birthday of the Philharmonie, one of the most amazing concert halls in the world.
The venue | The Philharmonie, Berlin
The programme
Fanfare | Boris Blacher
The evening opened with Fanfare by Boris Blacher for fourteen off-stage brass: four trumpets, four trombones and six horns. A most attractive and accessible work written in 1963 to celebrate the opening of the Philharmonie and premiered by the brass of the Berlin Phil in a concert conducted by Herbert von Karajan on 15th October, 1963.
Little firefly, glaringly illuminated and frightened by unbearable beauty | Milica Djordjević
In 2007, Milica Djordjević (b.1984) wrote a work entitled Firefly in a Jar, a short work about the life of a firefly. In this new commission, she chose to continue the theme, describing the result as a picture from an album, from the memoirs of a firefly… about remembering a truly existential moment…a swirl of beauty, dreams, hope, struggle… a flicker that contains majestic beauty and brutality.
The composer
Djordjević is an incredibly interesting composer. After spending much of her childhood endlessly playing the piano as a means of refuge from the NATO bombing of her native Yugoslavia, she ended up studying music at Belgrade University where she specialised in electronic music. This interest in electronic music led her to the world-famous and highly influential IRCAM in Paris, an avant-garde institution dedicated to the research of electro-acoustic music in musical composition.
After winning the Claudio Abbado Composition Prize of the Berlin Phil in 2020, Djordjević developed a close relationship with the orchestra, ultimately leading to this commission to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the opening of the Philharmonie. In interview, she talks about the challenge of writing a piece lasting just under five minutes for an artist who usually thinks in grandiose gestures. The work scored for a large orchestra (including triple wind) is remarkable in many ways, starting oh so delicately before reaching a roaring and blinding explosion. The constant meter – mostly four beats in the bar – almost like the marching soldiers from her childhood. Amidst all this cacophony, the tiny firefly and all its beauty reign supreme.
Mahler’s Fifth Symphony
With Dudamel at the helm, we were treated to a performance full of drama and tension. One could not help but marvel at the sheer musicality on stage.
The opening trumpet motif from Guillaume Jehl set the tone.
Principal horn, Stefan Dohr gave a virtuoso performance in the joyful third movement.
All was a foretaste to the glorious finale, full of trills and turns, crashing cymbals and a thundering bass drum. The orchestra were magnificent. One of the finest readings of a Mahler symphony I have ever heard.
The art exhibition
The Philharmonie shop
An amazing selection of children’s book and music found in the Philharmonie shop – one of the best selections I have ever seen. Stories featuring lots of composers and a wealth of CD’s to keep even the most active of children quiet for just those precious few moments in the car… I know how I searched endlessly for such material when my children were young.
The music of my youth below … Herbert von Karajan, Chief Conductor of the Berlin Philharmoniker from 1956 – 1989.
Click here to read the review in full on Bachtrack.com
This concert was reviewed at The Philharmonie, Berlin on Friday 20th October, 2023
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