Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, an epic reflection on melancholy, at the Bickford in Morris Township

David Wroe, conductor of the New Jersey Festival Orchestra
David Wroe, conductor of the New Jersey Festival Orchestra
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The New Jersey Festival Orchestra 'in miniature,' at the Bickford. Photo by Linda Stamato
The New Jersey Festival Orchestra ‘in miniature,’ at the Bickford. Photo by Linda Stamato

By Linda Stamato

Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 9, his last, performed Sunday at the Bickford Theatre by the New Jersey Festival Orchestra, under the leadership of its conductor and director, David Wroe, was, in short, a breath-taking, artistic marathon.

David Wroe, conductor of the New Jersey Festival Orchestra
David Wroe, conductor of the New Jersey Festival Orchestra

The performance “in miniature,” meaning less than a full orchestra, followed an arrangement by Klaus Simon allowing for the complex and difficult work to become accessible.

Miniature it may have been, but this New Jersey premiere was massive in its impact. It fulfilled an obligation, magnificently, to the tortured and often rejected Mahler.

Appreciating the history and context of Mahler’s monumental symphony is, I think, essential to a full understanding of the work and its impact.

Mahler was disturbed that his works were so infrequently performed. Before composing this complex and disturbing piece, his five-year-old daughter died of diphtheria and his wife left him. And he himself had been diagnosed with a degenerative heart condition.

One can feel his sense of alienation from the coarse culture that would reject him, and the overwhelming sadness, profound mourning, the angst, and, in the final adagio, the slow and hesitating coming of death which foreshadowed Mahler’s own passing some 18 months later.

And looking back, in fact, it seems to anticipate the end of an era as World War I came three years later.

The fourth and final movement, quiet, slow, extended, almost painfully so, is believed to be, the program notes tell us, “the quintessential musical depiction of passing away.” Fear and anxiety ease into comfort, into peace.

I cannot say enough about David Wroe, the conductor. A full biography is here, but it doesn’t provide the full picture of a man demonstrably devoted to the music he knows so well, music he performs with vitality and emotion and shares in a sincere expression of intimacy with his audience.

Wroe’s notes on the work, delivered before each movement, provided context and meaning, and his enthusiastic, intense performance injected power into a superb orchestra. It was a privilege to experience.

Fortunately, there are seven more performances to come in a season that began with Gershwin, Brahms and Tchaikovsky and ends with Beethoven.

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