{"id":781,"date":"2009-03-03T03:35:42","date_gmt":"2009-03-03T03:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/2009\/03\/03\/mahler-passing-thoughts-on-the-way-home\/"},"modified":"2009-03-03T03:38:58","modified_gmt":"2009-03-03T03:38:58","slug":"mahler-passing-thoughts-on-the-way-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/2009\/03\/03\/mahler-passing-thoughts-on-the-way-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Mahler 5- on the way home"},"content":{"rendered":"

No time for a proper blog here at Seattle Airport, and in all honesty, I think it\u2019s too soon to try to sum up such a memorable, exciting and exhausting weekend. <\/span><\/p>\n

I was so glad that Pendleton came out and supported us for this concert- our best crowd in a long time, and an instant, screamin\u2019-hollerin\u2019-whoopin\u2019 standing ovation, which the orchestra had more than earned. I was a little worried about turnout- a lot of people worry to me, and eventually I start to fear they may be right. On top of that, we didn\u2019t have a soloist on this concert, it\u2019s a more difficult and abstract piece than the 3 Mahler\u2019s we\u2019ve done so far, it was a Sunday concert (usually 20% less audience for Sundays- don’t ask me why we bother!), and the economy hasn\u2019t been helping ticket sales through the year. To get such a huge turnout meant a lot, and made for an electric atmosphere. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I really shouldn\u2019t have worried. I had a lovely chat on the morning of the concert with a member of the OES Chorale. She was very excited to be coming to Mahler 5 that afternoon, and talked with me a lot about her experience of singing Mahler 2 with us at the beginning of this crazy project. She said that for the last 10 minutes of the piece she, and most of the people around her, just couldn\u2019t stop crying, and that she was shaking all over at the end. I remembered exactly what she was talking about, but time breeds skepticism, and after a few years it\u2019s hard to believe a performance can actually affect people like that (and I was glad for the reminder!), but, of course, that\u2019s what Mahler is all about. Turning you upside down and inside out, stretching musicians and listeners to their limits. When people worry that a rural audience won\u2019t get it, you just have to remind them that Mahler was first and foremost a communicator- give him the audience (and a great orchestra), and he does the rest. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It was great to see the sheer energy, love of music and generally vibrant\u00a0spirit the OES musicians bring to Pendleton. Everywhere we went in the concert weekend, musicians were talking, laughing, spending money. They even got involved in the local music scene, when a gang of our players sat in with James Kindle and the Eastern Oregon Playboys<\/a> at the Rainbow on Saturday night after the dress rehearsal. In exchange, the Playboys and their posse came to the Mahler and cheered everyone on. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway, more later, when jetlag has eased. I miss the piece already, but at least I\u2019m doing it again in August at the Harlech academy. Hopefully, some of the <\/span>Oregon<\/span> gang will join us for that one. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n