It cannot be easy to choose a companion for Mahler's "song-symphony" Das Lied von Erde. The audience can be overwhelmed if the first half is as intense. Yet, despite it containing a lifetime of pain, joy and contemplation, Mahler's swansong is not long enough to fill an evening. The Hallé's solution was to perform short Debussy works in a brief first half.
It is alleged that Debussy received a commission from General Meredith Reid to compose a piece based on a bagpipe tune traditionally associated with his clan. Many years later, Debussy orchestrated the resultant piano duet Marche Ecossaise. Elder and the Hallé gave the work as polished a performance as one could ever hear. The jovial pastoral elements were never persuasively jig-like, but the affectionate mood showed a lighter side to Debussy's art. His more serious side was represented by the Images "Gigues" and "Rondes de printemps". Although Elder kept proceedings bubbling along with charm, both irresistibly inventive Images were forgettable due to unfair competition from Das Lied von Erde.
The structure of Mahler's orchestral song cycle can be compared to a gradual diminuendo, commencing with a hedonistic flourish and eventually resolving in a lonely acceptance of mortality. On this occasion, the opening Drinking Song suffered from an uncharacteristic problem with balance, with tenor Torsten Kerl's marvellous heldentenor too often eclipsed by the orchestra's volume. However, this was soon remedied. Kerl looks like the perfect Siegfried with his golden mane and well-trimmed beard, and possesses a voice to match: agile and powerful without becoming brutal.
Yet, just as Mahler unfairly eclipsed Debussy, contralto Anna Larsson's dominant contribution stole the limelight from Kerl. With an intelligent application of vibrato, a graceful sense of melody, and creamy voice, it is no wonder that the versatile and impressive Larsson has a career that combines operas by Monteverdi, Handel and Wagner.
This was a performance that was all about the singers' poeticism rather than the conductor's ego, and one imagines that both Mahler and Elder will have approved.
