Lenny's Mahler

It always amazes me to realize the importance of interpreters, something unique for music appreciation only. Mahler composed his works in great detail and instructions so that there is almost no middle land between keeping strictly to music notes and straying far away. Stravinsky prefers the former and hates unwanted personalization from interpreters, but unfortunately the greatness of the music lies in the infinite ways of exploration, understanding and recreation. For me, Boulez and Bernstein show two extremes with regard to Mahler’s world. It is the latter composer who approached Mahler with more Mahlerian sensitivity and thereby conquered me.


I don’t have his last complete Mahler cycle, but own a few. The Symphony No. 6 is acquired yesterday, which I haven’t had the chance to listen that much. It is already a wonder for Lenny Bernstein to conduct Mahler at his age when these live recordings were made, not to mention this cycle is the most dynamic, most vigorous and most emotional one. In my mind, although he may have distorted more notes than other conductors, no one, in terms of music character, is closer than he to Mahler.


I take extreme freedom to use Mahlerian which is hard to explain in a few sentences. It can be fragile and brittle, boisterous and rough, heroic and lofty. No matter what feeling it is, it bursts out without restraint. From my point of view, music from Mozart is so wholesome and chaste that it cannot be the final resort for peace and serenity. It just sounds too beautiful to be real. Mahler murmurs, shouts, contends, retreats and cries. His music embodies a heroic statue with all human weakness, thus listening experience becomes mutual consoles, with equality.

Mahlerian concept is the key to accept Bernstein’s boldness. There is no such too much emotion involved to perform extremely emotional music; and there is no overloading conducting for overloading music. It is a final outlet and a retreat so that no strong feelings should be inhibited. Lenny makes the Allegro of the first movement of Resurrection into a heroic trudge, he opts a much faster tempo for funeral march in Titan which sounds humorous and idiosyncratic. He chooses a boy to substitute a soprano in the finale of 4th symphony, and No. 6 Symphony, he blows down the audience by strokes of “hammer” with no mercy.

Also, an old article written three years ago.

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聆听Mahler确实不是一件简单的事情，我首先必须承认我的一个缺点：每次聆听Mahler都会走神。在宏大冗长的音流中flounder应该不是罪过，但缺乏心灵的契合确是不得否认的事实。

Mahler说，我的时代终会到来。上个世纪末全世界的乐团都在拥簇Mahler，连上交也请来了Kaplan首演了Resurrection。一时间， Mahler的音乐中的深刻在现代社会中找到了最好的注解，他对于音乐中的心理因素的洞悉以及他对严肃哲学命题的思索使得他的交响曲成为许多知识分子的心灵慰藉。

诚然如此，我依然不能热爱Mahler，甚至我更喜欢同样冗长、宏大的Bruckner。我一直认为，音乐的艺术不应受到道德的束缚，更无需言及深刻或哲理。他们未尝不会没有交集，但交集的本身不能代表音乐作品的“崇高“。

前天晚上，朋友到我家里拿去几张昆曲的VCD，他即将毕业，已经找到一份在DC的工作。我们聆听着Mozart的小提琴奏鸣曲，Grumiaux的琴下Mozart简单纯朴。他听着听着，竟似失了魂一般，然后喃喃的诉说起来自己过去两年的艰难：连续两次被lay off，2001年就搬了5次家，从加州一路到康州，尽是焦急地等待。为了保持留美的身份，他终于决定自费在名校读一个好一些的专业，卖了车，贷了款，借了债，高昂的学费迫使他必须尽可能的争取在一年修完，于是一个学期要上六门课；即使这样，低迷的经济依然让他担心未来的工作。而今，似乎两年的郁闷阴霾都会化去，心中宽慰舒坦了许多，却仍因为过去的沉重而感到些许的谨慎和忧虑。“你听，Mozart好像不食人间烟火一样，从来没有过忧愁，可是。。。“

我知道他的后句，不禁想起Shostakovich说过的，音乐是人类最后的避难所；而Mozart的音乐应是终极的慰怀吧。那个深夜，我仍聆听着他的小提琴奏鸣曲，音乐简洁如一汪清水，幽蓝潭底清澈见底，那般纯净世间又何处可循呢？不由得感动的要落泪。

回到Mahler的论题中，我可以陶醉于其中的某些片断，却无法凝神欣赏全貌。记得在Barbirroli的一张唱片的Booklet中，作者甚至用到了Mahler式的神经质一词，这个词语直观的表达了Mahler音乐的某些瞬间，不同情感要素积聚压缩后突然的爆发和释放，从而带给听众的心理映射。在后现代的工业社会激烈的竞争、忙碌的奔波中，人类比以往更需要情感的宣泄。Mahler用其浩大的配器，错综的声部可以生生在心中砸出一个口来，人生五味浊污一般一拥而出。这种品啜因为触及内心深处而引发的苦痛带来的近乎病态的愉悦，在强烈的管弦乐音响洪流的冲击下久而久之让人上瘾，似乎欲罢不能。

也许，当年的Mahler，虽然沉迷于生死的哲思，却仍在音乐的主题范围内思索探求。他的第一交响曲中一派生机腾腾、气象万千，充满着田园的气息；甚至在第四中我们依然可以感到维也纳式的均衡、流畅。不同的也许只是后人的理解，或者说二度和三度创作。然而，同样是厚重的音乐，Bruckner的神性指引着音乐走向虔诚、静穆；Mahler（曾经更改过信仰）没有过多的宗教去依赖，他的内观世界更趋同神话的境界，而敏锐的思维、脆弱的情感更多地体现在他的音乐的多维性（允许我用这样含混的词语表达），即在纵向上乐思飞跃变化，同时横向上的表达隐晦暧昧，具有多重角度诠释的可能；这些恰恰是被现在的听众所捕捉到的认同点吧。

Mahler象一面晦暗的镜子，透过层层褶皱的镜中映像，我们依然寻找到自己的身影，未始完美，却因为心有戚戚而可以倾诉，宣泄。而Mozart的音乐不染纤尘的纯净，在远离现实的另一个国度安抚慰藉着尘世的心灵。