As the new orchestral season begins in the UK, Mahler’s First Symphony seems to be everywhere. Earlier this month, Antonio Pappano included it in his first clutch of concerts as the London Symphony Orchestra’s new chief conductor; in three weeks’ time it will be included in Domingo Hindoyan’s opening programme with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic; and here the symphony formed the second half of Kahchun Wong’s debut as the Hallé’s principal conductor.
Apparently the work is something of a favourite for the Singapore-born Wong, and as a calling card this clean, bright performance was certainly effective enough. Yet for all the brilliance of the playing – Mark Elder has left behind him an orchestra as fine as any in this country – the symphony seemed strangely characterless. The wonderfully mysterious and atmospheric opening – Mahler announcing his genius in just a few minutes of music – was neither of those things; the rustic Ländler was devoid of peasant earthiness, and even the opening of the funeral march seemed to be played with a straight face, and no trace of parody. Despite the flamboyance of his gestures, Wong always seemed to be holding the music in check, even in the symphony’s final Technicolor moments.
The first half of the programme offered more clues to where the interesting aspects of Wong’s tenure might be found. It was devoted to a suite from Britten’s only mature ballet, The Prince of the Pagodas. It’s one of his least performed major works, best known for its parodies of gamelan music, especially in the second act, which had been inspired by the composer’s visit to Bali a year earlier.
The complete ballet lasts 100 minutes; Wong conducted a 25-minute suite of seven numbers, which he had assembled in collaboration with the composer Colin Matthews. The gamelan passages formed a glittering centrepiece, like a precious jewel among music that, some elegant oboe solos aside, otherwise never seems quite to represent Britten at his fluent best. But it’s clearly a work that Wong believes in passionately; no doubt more of those special enthusiasms will emerge in his seasons in Manchester to come.
