{"id":3072,"date":"2024-05-24T00:10:45","date_gmt":"2024-05-24T04:10:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/?p=3072"},"modified":"2024-05-24T00:21:27","modified_gmt":"2024-05-24T04:21:27","slug":"why-colorado-mahlerfest-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/2024\/05\/why-colorado-mahlerfest-matters.html","title":{"rendered":"Why Colorado Mahlerfest Matters"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ken Woods plies his guitar at “Electric Liederland” [Photo: Mark Bobb]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The most profound music ever conceived by Richard Strauss may be Metamorphosen <\/em>for 23 solo strings. Composed in 1945 when Strauss was 81 years old, it memorializes the cultural inheritance symbolized by the opera houses of Munich, Dresden, and Vienna, all bombed to rubble during what Strauss called \u201cthe most terrible period in human history . . .  the 12-year reign of bestiality, ignorance, and anti-culture under the greatest animals.\u201d He also wrote: \u201cI am beside myself. . . . There can be no consolation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the thirty-seventh annual\u00a0Colorado Mahlerfest<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0in Boulder last week, Kenneth Woods prefaced\u00a0Metamorphosen<\/em>\u00a0with Wagner\u2019s overture to\u00a0Die Meistersinger<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 a sublime embodiment of what those opera houses were about. The impact of this juxtaposition was devastating — not least because we ourselves increasingly inhabit a time of “ignorance and anti-culture”.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 55, Woods is the rare conductor with an exceptional curatorial gift. He has been Mahlerfest music director since 2015. His regular job is conducting the English Symphony Orchestra in Worcester (UK). He lives in Carduff, where his wife plays in the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Born and trained in the US, he has never been offered an American podium of consequence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2024 Mahlerfest packed seven concerts and an all-day symposium into five days. As Woods also plays electric guitar and sings, one evening, \u201cElectric Liederland\u201d in a Boulder rock\/folk venue, included edgy riffs on Mahler\u2019s Ninth and Das Lied von der Erde<\/em>. Another included on its second half \u201cVisions of Childhood,\u201d a sui generis suite for chamber ensemble and soprano conceived by Woods and previously presented in concerts and a recording by the English Symphony Orchestra. It comprised:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

–The opening measures of Mahler\u2019s Fourth (arr. Woods)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

–Wagner\u2019s Siegfried Idyll<\/em> (arr. Woods)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

–Two songs from Humperdinck\u2019s Hansel and Gretel<\/em> (arr. Woods)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

–Schubert\u2019s \u201cThe Trout,\u201d alternating the song with the variations for piano quintet (arr. Woods)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

–Mahler\u2019s \u201cDas irdische Leben\u201d (arr. Woods)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

–Schubert\u2019s variations on \u201cDeath and the Maiden\u201d (arr. Woods)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

–Mahler\u2019s \u201cDas himmlische Leben\u201d (arr. Woods)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cumulative impact was magical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The festival\u2019s big pieces (on separate symphonic programs) were Strauss\u2019s Alpine<\/em> Symphony and Mahler\u2019s Symphony No. 4. (I contributed a symposium talk on Mahler and Schubert; my Mahlerei<\/em><\/strong> <\/a>for bass trombone and chamber ensemble, recasting the Scherzo of Mahler\u2019s Fourth, was also performed.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Woods\u2019s reading of the Mahler symphony was both spacious and sharply detailed. Of his 94 players, the vast majority are Mahlerfest regulars. They come from as far away as New York and Texas, Canada and Korea. They relish this composer\u2019s sweet portamentos and prickly dynamics. They also manifest a rare degree of pride and engagement. The excitement with which they applaud Woods, and one another, reminds me of the South Dakota Symphony<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 another orchestra mainly comprised of ardent out-of-towners who don\u2019t come for the money. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introducing the Meistersinger<\/em> Overture at a pre-concert talk, Woods highlighted a salient feature of Wagner\u2019s inexhaustible opera: its celebration of cultural community. And this, finally, is what the Colorado Mahlerfest is about. As with last year\u2019s<\/strong> memorable reading<\/strong><\/a> of the Resurrection<\/em> Symphony, the audience for Mahler\u2019s Fourth was strikingly inter-generational, including local families for whom Mahlerfest is an annual ritual. The week also included a mountain hike, open rehearsals, and various breakfasts and dinners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will have something to say about my Mahlerei<\/em> \u2013 magnificently realized by Woods and David Taylor \u2013 in a forthcoming post. Next year, the featured symphony will be No. 6. In 2026, the Mahlerfest topic will be \u201cMahler the Man\u201d — explored via the Symphony No. 9 and a staging of the full-length play I have extrapolated from my novel The Marriage:<\/em><\/strong> The Mahlers in New York<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The most profound music ever conceived by Richard Strauss may be Metamorphosen for 23 solo strings. Composed in 1945 when Strauss was 81 years old, it memorializes the cultural inheritance symbolized by the opera houses of Munich, Dresden, and Vienna, all bombed to rubble during what Strauss called \u201cthe most terrible period in human history . . […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3072","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2QLHN-Ny","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3072"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3082,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3072\/revisions\/3082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}