1

2011

Haarlem Holland

Willem de Bordes

Jared Sacks

59.55

Microphones: Bruel & Kjaer 4006, Schoeps
Digital Converters: DSD Super Audio/Grimm Audio AD
Speakers: Audiolab, Holland
Software: Pyramix Editing, Merging Technologies
Mixing Board: Rens Heijnis, custom design
Mastering Room: B+W 803d series speakers, Classe 5200 Amplifier
Cables: Van den Hul

Amsterdam Sinfonietta

Gustav Mahler (1860 - 1911)
Adagietto from Symphony no. 5 in c sharp (1901-1902)

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)
String Quartet no. 11 in f minor, opus 95 “Quartetto Serioso” (1810)
arr. for string orchestra, G. Mahler (1899)

Gustav Mahler (1860 - 1911)
Adagio from Symphony no. 10 (1910)
arr. for string orchestra, H. Stadlmair (1971)

Mahler's Beethoven

"A quartet for string orchestra! That sounds strange to you. I already know all the objections that will be raised: ruination of intimacy, of individuality. But that is an error. What I intend is only an ideal representation of the quartet. Chamber music is primarily written for the living room. It is really enjoyed only by the performers. The four ladies and gentlemen [#ipv meesters???] who sit at their music stands are also the audience towards which this music turns. If chamber music is transferred to the concert hall, this intimacy is already lost. But even more is lost. In a large space the four voices are lost and do not speak to the listener with the power that the composer wanted to give them. I give them this power by strengthening the voices. I unravel the expansion that is dormant in the voices and give the sounds wings."

Thus Mahler in an open letter in the Viennese newspaper Die Wage in January 1899. On 14 January, during his first season as chief conductor of the Viennese Philharmonic Orchestra, he was to conduct the premiere of his arrangement for string orchestra of Beethoven's String Quartet opus 95 ‘Quartetto serioso’. And what Mahler had anticipated did indeed occur during this concert: after the first movement loud cries of boo erupted, countered by fervent applause from Mahler's supporters. Despite his deep conviction, Mahler never performed his arrangement again. His score and the orchestral parts were found in the late 1980s in the Viennese Philharmonic Orchestra archive. The arrangement was first published in 1990, and since then Mahler's version of the ’Quartetto serioso’ has had a permanent place on concert stages around the world.

Quartetto serioso

Beethoven wrote his String Quartet opus 95 in 1810 and called it the ’Quartetto serioso’. This concise quartet heralds his final period of composition, in which his music abounds in abstraction and experimentation. On completion of the quartet, as if Beethoven sensed that it would be too progressive for the general public, he wrote to the publisher: "the quartet is written for a small circle of connoisseurs and must never be performed in public." For this reason it was published only in 1816. Characteristic of the quartet are its exceptional conciseness and daring. The expositions do not have the customary repeats, the developments are very short and the harmonic liberties exceptionally great. Together with the irregular phrase structure, pounding motifs and furious outbursts, the work leaves the listener in a state of exhaustion.

The Allegro con brio begins with a hasty theme, whose first five notes dominate the entire movement. Any expansion of the lyrical subsidiary theme is quickly retorted by the angry main theme. In the development, this raging reaches macabre heights through sharp appoggiaturas and lashing sforzando accents.
The Allegretto ma non troppo commences in an ominous mood with five descending notes in the cellos. This short introduction is followed by a soft, plaintive melody, after which the violas announce a chromatically descending fugue subject. After it has sounded in all voices, the cellos return to the descending opening motif, whispering and macabre, with a biting and dissonant accompaniment in the other parts. This passage reminds one immediately of the grinding dissonances at the beginning of Mozart's Dissonance Quartet KV 465. The ominous, chromatically descending five-note line brings the movement to an unresolved end on a diminished F chord.

The struggle remains undecided, and proceeds without interruption in the movement that gave its name to the quartet: Allegro assai vivace ma serioso. The mood of this scherzo corresponds to the hasty first movement, but the listener is allowed a breath of fresh air in a chorale-like oasis in which the first violins interweave tender counterpoint. The final movement is introduced by a sad Larghetto espressivo. But soon the tempo accelerates, the harmonies chafe and the tension rises. The first violins deliver more whiplashes, but the loud and dramatic confirmation of F minor transports us to an entirely unexpected and featherweight Allegro in F major. And so an utterly serious quartet comes to an end with a jolly trick conjured out of a hat.

Mahler's love

"This Adagietto was Gustav Mahler's declaration of his love for Alma!" This note by the Dutch conductor Willem Mengelberg casts a particular light on the origin of the Adagietto. Mengelberg, not only a champion of Mahler's music but also a close acquaintance of the composer, wrote these words in his orchestral score. According to Mengelberg, Mahler wrote this Adagietto after meeting Alma Schindler. "Mahler could not express his love for her in words. He wrote this passionate piece and sent her the manuscript without a letter." Herself an excellent musician and composer, Alma understood the message. They married shortly after.

The Adagietto was published as part of Mahler's Fifth Symphony. Although it was years before this symphony was widely appreciated, the Adagietto was an immediate success among press and public. It was therefore often performed by the composer and other conductors as a separate piece. The orchestration is remarkable: while the symphony requires a large symphony orchestra, this movement is written for harp and strings only.
The mood of the Adagietto is closely related to the magical song Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen on a text by Friedrich Rückert, which Mahler wrote shortly before.

Final Adagio

The Adagietto from the Fifth Symphony and the Adagio from the Tenth Symphony seem to mark two extremes in the life of Gustav Mahler. He wrote the Adagietto in a relatively happy period, but during the composition of his final Adagio he was driven almost to desperation. In the summer of 1910, in his little composing hut at Toblach, Gustav Mahler commenced his final composition, the Tenth Symphony. Although at the very heights of his capabilities as a composer and conductor, his personal life was in a state of crisis. Mahler suffered enormously under the assumption that his wife Alma was having an extramarital affair with the architect Walter Gropius. Afraid of losing her for ever, he was prone to nervous attacks and severe headaches. The so-called spontaneous visit to Toblach by Gropius in the summer only served to deepen the crisis. In desperation, Mahler travelled to Leiden for an emergency consultation with Sigmund Freud, who was on holiday there. The composer returned with his mind at rest, but when his assumption turned out to be true he had a serious relapse, as is clear from the manuscript of the Tenth Symphony. The margins are full of poignant phrases such as "farewell, my music" and "for your life and for your death. Almschi." In the autumn, Mahler resumed the thread of his busy life as a conductor, but, unusually, he did not return to composing in the winter. It would appear that he could not face the task of finishing his Tenth Symphony, which remained incomplete when he died the following year.

The Tenth Symphony is organised as a five-movement work, but Mahler completed only the orchestration of the opening Adagio. This movement has the characteristics of a sonata rondo, and its three themes are constantly alternated and developed. The work opens with a roaming viola solo, in search of harmonic tranquility, finally found after fifteen long bars in a warm orchestral sound in F sharp major. Again and again, Mahler returns to the lonely viola. There are two clear climaxes, the second of which has become famous for its piercing nine-note chord. Here, the composer is literally two steps - two notes - away from the most extreme 'emancipation' of the notes, which was to lead ten years later to the revolutionary twelve-note technique of Arnold Schönberg. In 1913, Schönberg wrote these prophetic words on Mahler's Tenth Symphony: "It seems as if the Tenth could tell us something that we should not yet know, something for which we are not yet sufficiently mature."

After Mahler's death, many of his compositions were arranged for smaller ensembles, whether for artistic, financial or acoustical reasons. This was instigated by Schönberg and his pupils Anton Webern and Erwin Stein; among later arrangements are those by Luciano Berio and David Matthews. The present version of the Adagio is from the hand of Hans Stadlmair, who squeezed the symphonic proportions back to those of a small string ensemble, thus lending the Adagio a uniquely intimate dimension.

Willem de Bordes

(...) Thompson and her players give a heartfelt, expressive performance; and the smaller ensemble makes the details of Mahler’s inner lines easier to follow. (...) The performance is compelling, even gripping (...) this performance builds a convincing case for the work as a free-standing addition to the string orchestra repertory.
American Record Guide

(...) The Amsterdam Sinfonietta makes exquisitely beautiful sounds on this superbly recorded Channel Classics SACD (...)
Fanfare

The impact and drama of the opening Allegro con brio and the third movement Allegro assai vivace ma serioso are both high-octane and potently performed in this recording. The depth of expression elsewhere is as good as one could hope for. Have a listen to the opening of the final movement, the initial Larghetto espressivo section is beautifully shaped. (…) What the Amsterdam Sinfonietta does so effectively is keep that extra in reserve, so that when the moments of highest drama and deepest terror arise they are delivered with the maximum effect possible.
MusicWeb

(…) Nice performances, stunning recording.
BBC Music Magazine

This is a wonderful concept, perfectly realized. (…)These players really dig into the music, and the lack of woodwind and brass timbre is much less problematic than you might suspect when the playing is so fine. (…) thank Candida Thompson and her exceptionally musical team. Sonics are state-of-the-art in all formats, as we have come to expect from this label. A project like this, not so well executed, easily could have sounded gimmicky, but this is a pleasure from first note to last.
Classics Today 10/10

Mahler op z’n Mahlerst (…) Een van de beste strijkorkesten is het, Amsterdam Sinfonietta. (…) Er wordt excellent en intens gemusicieerd.
NRC

(…) a well-thought out programme (…) The lonely viola solos are sensitively done, and many other interwoven solos demonstrate more clearly how very contrapuntal this movement is, as the texture is opened and placed on display. Most convincing, then, and despite having a number of performances of the full Symphony 10's, I shall find myself more than willing to listen to this excerpt. (…) An intriguing look at some of Mahler's work from unusual points of view, and attractive for that; well worth investigating.
SA-CD.net