Gustav Mahler's 8th symphony in the Helsinki Music Centre, the 24th of August, 2018

This year Gustav Mahler’s 8^th symphony, that has been seen relatively seldom in Finland, was performed as a part of the Helsinki Festival. The reason, why it is seen so seldom, is simply its large scale: it includes three sopranos, two altos, one tenor, a baritone and a bass, a double mixed choir, a boy choir, an enlarged orchestra and an organ. The 8^th symphony is also called “the Symphony of a Thousand” because on its first night in 1910, there were more than one thousand musicians and singers involved. The Helsinki Music Centre did not see quite so many people on the stage (only over 350 people), but the singers were some of the brightest stars of Finnish opera: Camilla Nylund, Helena Juntunen, Anu Komsi, Lilli Paasikivi, Tuija Knihtilä, Tuomas Katajala, Mika Kares and the only non-Finnish singer Stephen Gadd. These people are not seen on the same stage that often.

Heard in the Helsinki Music Centre the symphony was really impressive. The Finnish Radio Symphony orchestra conducted by Hannu Lintu performed superbly the thundering moments of the piece, but I was even more impressed by the more serene parts. When a lonely violin played, tears were near falling

The eighth symphony is without doubt a bit unusual, since the first part is a setting of a Catholic Whitsuntide Vesper (Veni, creator spiritus) and the second part is the final scene of Goethe’s Faust. You can only wonder, why these two things were combined to one symphony. But if you actively forget that, it is possible to enjoy the tremendous creative artistry of the music

Choirs play an important role in the eighth symphony and they took good care of their share. In addition to the Helsinki Music Centre Choir, Cantores Minores boychoir and a so called Festival Choir that consisted of three choirs (Kampin Laulu, the Spira Ensemble and the Tapiola Chamber Choir) sang during the symphony.  The choir part in the beginning of the second part was my absolute favourite.  

The soloists were, as you could guess from the list of names, superb. Again it feels a bit brutal to mention any special moments, but Camilly Nylund was breath-taking in her solos. Also the ensemble of Nylund, Knihtilä and Paasikivi was impressive. And of course Tuomas Katajala was there and he seems to master Mahler, too. And once again the clear high notes of Anu Komsi were absolutely stellar.