HOUSTON Livestock Show & RODEO

Tuesday, Feb.28

Opening Day, presented by Texas Capital Bank Parker McCollum

Wednesday, March 1

Armed Forces Appreciation Day, presented by Crown Royal, Brooks & Dunn

Thursday, March 2: Lauren Daigle

Friday, March 3

Black Heritage Day, presented by Kroger Bun B’s Southern Takeover

Saturday, March 4: Walker Hayes

Sunday, March 5: Zac Brown Band

Monday, March 6

First Responders Day, presented by BP America Jason Aldean

Tuesday, March 7: New Kids on The Block

Wednesday, March 8

Community Day, presented by TC Energy Jon Pardi

Thursday, March 9: Ashley McBryde

Friday, March 10: The Chainsmokers

Saturday, March 11: Turnpike Troubadours

Sunday, March 12

Go Tejano Day, presented by Fiesta MartLa Fiera de Ojinaga

Monday, March 13: Cody Jinks

Tuesday, March 14: Machine Gun Kelly

Wednesday, March 15: Kenny Chesney

Thursday, March 16: Chris Stapleton

Friday, March 17: Cody Johnson

Saturday, March 18: Brad Paisley

Sunday, March 19: Luke Bryan

RODEOHOUSTON Finals

Recently I had a very, very good weekend. On Friday evening, 10 February I attended the opening night performance of Wagner’s “Das Rheingold” by the Dallas Opera. More on that at the conclusion of this article.

Houston Symphony Orchestra

On Sunday, 12 February, I was in Jones Hall as the Houston Symphony performed part of its “Song of the Earth Festival” with performances of “Itinerary of an Illusion” by Q. Chen and “Das Lied von der Erde” (the Song of the Earth) by Gustav Mahler.

“Itinerary of an Illusion” opened quietly with a trumpet solo and the music slowly grew in tonal intensity to a glorious atonal scream. Then followed a haunting five note theme that various soloists and sections of the orchestra played variations on the five notes until the work slowly unwinded to its quite conclusion. Music Director Juraj Valčuha conducted with his own sweeping intensity.

“Das Lied von der Erde” (The Song of the Earth) is a symphony composed by Gustav Mahler between 1908 and 1909. It is considered one of Mahler’s most important works and is notable for its incorporation of Chinese poetry into the text of the vocal movements. The work is scored for two vocal soloists (a tenor and an alto / mezzo-soprano), a large orchestra, and a contralto solo in the final movement although, as is the current norm, the final movement is sung by the mezzo.

The soloists were Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano, and Clay Holley, tenor.

The symphony is divided into six movements, each of which sets a different Chinese poem to music. The poems are all translations, and were chosen by Mahler himself. The first movement, “Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde” (The Drinking Song of Earth’s Sorrow), sets a poem about the fleeting nature of life and the solace that can be found in wine. The second movement, “Der Einsame im Herbst” (The Lonely One in Autumn), is a melancholic meditation on the passing of time. The third movement, “Von der Jugend” (Of Youth), is a joyful celebration of youth and the beauty of nature. The fourth movement, “Von der Schönheit” (Of Beauty), is a contemplative reflection on the fleeting nature of beauty. The fifth movement, “Der Trunkene im Frühling” (The Drunkard in Spring), is a lively and humorous portrayal of a drunken man stumbling through the springtime. The final movement, “Der Abschied” (The Farewell), is a poignant and emotional farewell to life, as the soloist sings of saying goodbye to the earth and all its beauty.

Mr. Hilly sang three of the six movements with gusto and with mild humorous swaggering gestures that represented the lighter aspects of his three movements. Ms. Cooke, however, had

Intown’s Classical Music Editor and Critic, the Hon. Philip Berquist, Honorary Consul for the Republic of Croatia for Texas

Review

much more serious responsibilities for her three movements. She sang with elegant vocal effects, especially in the long sixth movement, depicting the sad farewell to life, quietly singing, “ewig,” (farewell) seven times as the work concludes slowly, becoming quieter and quieter, which perfectly depicts, at least to me, a peaceful, yet sad, death and finality. Valčuha conducted with beautiful phrasing and attention to Mahler’s sometimes dense, sometimes sparse orchestrations. One gets the feeling that the orchestra is really enjoying playing under his leadership.

“Das Lied von der Erde” is considered a masterpiece of Mahler’s late period and is widely admired for its powerful emotional impact and its unique blending of Western classical music and Chinese poetry. The work has been interpreted as a reflection of Mahler’s own feelings of isolation and longing, and it is often considered a reflection of the composer’s own feelings of isolation and longing. Mahler himself men- tioned that this may have been his greatest work, although he never lived to hear it. Leonard Bernstein also has been quoted as saying that Das Lied was Mahler’s finest symphony. Das Lied was written after his Eighth Symphony and, being superstitious, Mahler did not call the work his Ninth Symphony, knowing that the number 9 had been the final symphonies of Beethoven, Bruckner, Schubert, Dvorak and others. Ironically, his final work was his very last completed symphony, “9” so it seems that fate intervened after all.

The first performance was on 20 November 1911 in Munich, conducted by Bruno Walter, some six months after Mahler’s death at age 51.

Dallas Opera

This was my first experience with Dallas Opera, and it was very satisfying. It was also the first time to see Wagner’s “Das Rheingold” (the opening opera of his four opera, “The Ring of the Nibelungen) with the singers wearing helmets as the production returned to more traditional settings. Once, in London, I saw a version of Das Rheingold that had Wotan stepping out of a bathtub and Houston Grand Opera had Loge riding around the stage on a Segway so perhaps you see how much happier I was with the Dallas staging. Also the singing and the playing of the orchestra was exceptional however some severe technical lighting glitches were particularly annoying. The Winspear Opera house was stunning as were its acoustics. Unfortunately, apparently there are no announced plans on a complete “Ring of the Nibelung” cycle as was recently done in Houston. The Dallas Symphony, however, has announced two complete Ring Cycles from the stage in 2024.

That’s it for this issue of Intown. Let me continue to hear from you at classicalmusicberquist@ gmail.com.

Keller Williams Realty Metropolitan (832) 338-4040 www.uptownrealestategroup.com

David

CLHMS, CNE, GREEN Compass RE Texas (713) 320-6453 www.youngrealtyhouston.com

Beverly Smith CLHMS

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REALTOR, MCNE, CLHMS

Multimillion Dollar Producer, ILHM Keller Williams Memorial (281) 904-7014 www.rowland-properties.com

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Sharon Yeary Broker, ABR, CNHS, CRNH CRB, CRS, ePRO, GRI, RENE, SRES, SRS, TACS Sharcom Realty (832) 388-9945 www.SharcomRealty.com

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