Mahler performances run the gamut interpretatively. Leonard Bernstein famously pushed an approach that was cosmic in scale, yet also probed the human condition. Rafael Kubelik’s approach was rustic and humane. He grounded his performances in Mahler’s abundant references to nature. There are also the modernists interpretations: Conductors who see Mahler the same way they might think of Schoenberg or Webern — as harbingers of music’s new path in the 20th century. Boulez fits this category well.
The Seattle Symphony’s penultimate program of the 2022-23 season embraced the notion of music as a medium for artistic expression – with Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” at the center. This timeless tale has inspired many a composer, and guest conductor Marin Alsop led the orchestra in three of the most iconic interpretations of the star-crossed lovers and their sword-crossed clans. For the first half of the program, Alsop drew from the oeuvre of Tchaikovsky and her mentor Leonard Bernstein. But the zenith of artistic expression and enjoyment was doubtlessly the second half, with a captivating rendition of selections from Prokofiev’s celebrated ballet Romeo and Juliet.
Alsop made her debut with the Seattle Symphony back in 2005, a performance I recall fondly for a vibrant rendition of Tchaikovsky’s Second Symphony. Back then, after earning notoriety in the conducting world at Tanglewood and leading orchestras in Eugene and Denver, Alsop was just entering the public eye. Alsop was establishing herself as a leading interpreter of the music of Barber, Bernstein, and other American composers. And the performance came just a few months before she became the first conductor to receive a “genius grant” from the MacArthur Foundation. Several years later she would take the podium as music director of the Baltimore Symphony, joining JoAnn Falletta as one of a few women to lead a major American orchestra. And her reputation since then has rightly soared. But back then, it was her expert knowledge and swaying presence that seemed to delight the audience and orchestra alike, and what I looked forward to with her return.
Gathering Note 