In an age of hand-wringing over supposedly populist programming on BBC Radio 3 and in a Proms season packed with obvious crowd-pleasers, this BBC Symphony Orchestra concert seemed designed for the diehards. On the one hand: the Mahlerians, drawn by the rare opportunity to hear the composer’s long, early cantata Das klagende Lied, a “concert folk tale” based on a text he penned aged 17, in the original version he completed at 20. On the other: the Boulezians – better catered for than usual in his centenary year – who thronged for his Rituel in Memoriam Bruno Maderna, performed by the same orchestra who premiered it, with Boulez conducting, in 1975.
The fact that Boulez also conducted the first Proms performance of Mahler’s Das klagende Lied (again with the BBCSO) in 1976 presumably encouraged this Prom’s pairing of works. But the juxtaposition did these pieces few favours.
In the first half, a slimmed-down BBCSO revelled in Boulez’s analogue spatial audio effects. Rattles were exchanged on snare drums, cymbals and güiros, like enormous snakes facing off across the Royal Albert Hall. There were flurries of chirruping woodwind and abrupt, abrasive cadences, snatched into silence by conductor Hannu Lintu, who stood almost motionless except for swift, absolutely economical gestures. Gongs and tam-tams hung on a vast rack were played by two percussionists, two beaters each, their slow dance amid so much metalwork strangely compelling. But the work’s fragmentary nature and peculiar form made for a long half hour.
Mahler’s cantata felt longer still. His score offers glimpses of the mature composer to come: surges of symphonic power, natty rhythmic corners, beautiful chiaroscuro effects. But there are also numerous less persuasive turns of phrase. His teenaged pseudo-folk tale meanders repetitively and his text-setting poses real challenges for the solo singers. The adults – Natalya Romaniw, Jennifer Johnston, Russell Thomas and James Newby – fared better here than the two heftily miked boy choristers, but there were nevertheless balance problems throughout. The BBC Symphony Chorus and Constanza Chorus injected warmth and vigour and much of the orchestral playing was a deluxe, Mahler-in-HD affair. But not even that, alas, could save the piece from itself.
• Listen again on BBC Sounds until 12 October. The Proms continue until 13 September
