Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra Mahler 6 livestream

Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra with Chief Conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali

The Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra livestreamed Mahler Symphony no 6 last night, conducted by Christoph Eschenbach.   What a surprise ! A very early version of the symphony, before the many amendments.  Three hammerblows !  A rare opportunity to hear the original version of the symphony, before Mahler's decision to drop the third after the first performance.  Sources close to Mahler suggested that the reason might have been superstition: the nickname "tragic" alluding to death.  I'm not so sure. To me the symphony sounds more sinister because we don't hear the third hammer blow though we know it ought to be there.  Instead, it haunts the symphony like an unseen threat : much more disturbing than a neat, conventional ending.  We'd possibly not notice if we didn't know, since the symphony works so well structurally, but it is good to remember and hear Mahler's first thoughts from time to time.  Since we didn't know that Gothenburg would spring this rarity,  no-one seems to have listened with an early version of the score. Not to worry. In any case, we hear Mahler 6 so often that it’s a good experience to hear something different.  The performance will hopefully be repeated on GSOplay, Gothenburg's own broadcast channel, available on their website HERE.   .

GSOplay is definitely worth following ! Although the livestreams  don't repeat, they are archived and appear on the website later, as is often the case.  Look at what they have to offer - a good Sibelius Kullervo with Gothenburg's new Chief,  Santtu-Matias Rouvali. They're doing the new, much tighter new edition premiered in Helsinki in 2015, a brilliant performance which the Helsinki Philharmonic broadcast, conducted by Sakari Oramo, a much more impassioned performance than when he did it with the BBCSO In London soon after, with the same soloists. (Read more here)    But I digress. Look also at what the Gotheburg Symphony is coming up  with soon : Shostakovich on Wednesday and a gala marking the centenary of Finnish Independence on Thursday 7th December - Sibelius 1, Rautavaara and Wennäkoski.  (click here)

Also interesting is that Gothenburg's livesteam was also picked up by Gramophone magazine, which ran a link.   Gramophone is of course closely linked to the gramophone industry, a term which sounds so outdated that it's almost exotic, and worth keeping as a historical record (deliberate pun !).  Once music was always live, and recording were souvenirs . With modern technology the balance can be restored again towards performance, with more emphasis on repertoire, as opposed to delivery.,   Through new technology, orchestras like Gothenburg Symphony can reach audiences far beyond their local area. Watching the livestream, I was heartened to read comments on the feed from all over the world - Latin America, Asia, the Middle East.  The world is not confined to "traditional" western markets.  Gothenburg travels, and has even played in Macau.  But touring is expensive.

Streaming gives orchestras greater artistic control. Supported by the Swedish government, Gothenburg can in turn support Swedish music, and thus the musical health of the country. A wise investment.    Performance  supports music education, and an educated public supports music. Note some of the repertoire Gothenburg can tackle which might not otherwise be done. 

Since orchestras play live anyway, it makes financial sense to stream live. There are costs, of course, but well-managed livestreams keep profits in house minimizing the middlemen.  Livestream isn't cheap, so the future may lie with unions of orchestras, sharing platforms and co-operating together, like Operavision.  Bergen and Gothenburg, together with Helsinki - all three pioneers in the new technology, would be a strong union.  More advance publicity wouldn't hurt, either.  Best of all, the balance would swing back towards live performance and variety of repertoire. There are audiences who don't actually like live music. Seriously, I've heard of people complaining about the shine of musicians’ shoes !  But music never has been something to be heard in sterile isolation, devoid of external influences. Part of the fun is human communication,  the way the players interact with the conductor, even subliminal details like the way individuals work with their instruments. Sure, it's a lot more to take in than audio only, but music was never meant not to be live.  New technology offers new possibilities : increasingly, the industry shifts towards orchestra-based distribution.

Brahms exults ! Vier ernste Gesänge Goerne Eschenbach

Matthias Goerne and Christoph Eschenbach , Brahms Vier ernste Gesänge and other Lieder, from Harmonia Mundi, is an extremely welcome release, since Goerne has.been singing these songs in recital for 20 years, so distinctively that they have become his emblem, so to speak.  Now, at last a performance has been preserved for posterity.

"Brahms free of the thick veneer of varnish", I wrote about Goerne's first Vier ernste Gesänge at the Wigmore Hall. When he wrote these last songs, Brahms was facing death but  looking back on the North German tradition that he had left behind decades before, but also by extension to the defiant spirit of the Reformation. Like Ein deutsches Requiem, that in itself, in pious, obedient Catholic Austria, suggests rugged independence of spirit.  There is no heavenly afterlife in Vier ernste Gesänge.  These aren't last songs, either, but specifically "serious".  Thus the significance of the piano part in Vier ernste Gesänge :  two performers alone against the world.  Brahms and Clara Schumann, perhaps, both pianists looking back and fearlessly ahead.  Christoph Eschenbach and Goerne are an ideal partnership. They've worked together for years and both approach the work with uncompromising emotional directness.

Eschenbach's introduction is firm, and resolute. "Den es gehet dem Menschen wie dem Vieh, wie dies stirbt, so stirbt er auch". Eschenbach shapes the lines around "Es fährt alles am einen Ort", so they fly turbulently upwards, as if propelled by wind: for we are dust, returning to dust.  No Biedermeier sentimentality, but quiet dignity.  A strident chord cuts the song off abruptly. You don't mess with Death.  Then a softer, more reflective mood. "Ich wandte mich und sah an alle", reflecting on suffering  and the bitterness of life.  Goerne sings with such compassion that his voice conveys both sympathy and protest. For what is the human condition if the dead are better off than those yet to experience the evils of the world?  "O Tod, o Tod, wie bitter bitter, wie bitter bist du" sings Goerne, as if he were addressing Death man to man, each "wie bitter" beautiful shaped, like a genuine, personal rebuke.  Eschenbach plays the transition firmly, but sensitively, emphasizing the growing resolve in Goerne';s voice. This is a transit.  "O Tod, o Tod " sings Goerne, breathing warmth into the "wie wohl" which follows. "Wie wohl tust du".

Thus the affirmative resolution of the last song and its vigorous mood. The gifts of many tongues, of prophecy and even of faith, are nothing without love.  Then the glorious line "Wir sehen jetzt durch einen Speigel", when Goerne's voice rises, extraordinarily clearly and bright for a baritone happiest in the lower range, as if lit from within with inner strength.  Eschenbach's piano sings along.  "Nun aber bleibet Glaube, Hoffnung, Liebe, diese drei: aber ist die Liebe ist die größte unter ihnen"  Not the glories of the world, nor status, but love, to which all can aspire.  Goerne's non-strident, purposeful  expressiveness is, like love, both simple and extremely perceptive. Hugo Wolf, who eked a subsistence from music journalism, detested Brahms. "The true test of a composer", he wrote, "is this : Can he exult? Wagner can exult, Brahms cannot". What a pity Wolf hadn't heard Goerne and Eschenbach, who demonstrate that pietist purity is a form of exultation, and that Brahms can exult very well, without shouting.

These Vier ernste Gesänge will make this recording a must, but so too will the superb performances of Brahms' nine Lieder und Gesänge op 32 (1864) to texts by Karl August Graf von Platen and Georg Freidrich Daumer, poets with whom Brahms had great affinity, Excellent booklet notes, by Roman Hinke, which explain how the Platen and Daumer songs "mark nothing less than the entry into a new, surprisingly cryptic and conflict-ridden world ....what might have led Brahms to turn to Platen's poetic existentialism, to take his dark fantasies of the other side as the starting point of a disturbing sequence of songs".  In  "Wie rafft' ich mich auf", the poet leaps up in the middle of the night, wandering through the silent city. The lines "in die Nacht" repeat, obsessively, The stars look down, accusingly : "how have you spent your life?" they seem to ask.  The following six songs reiterate this question.  Brahms chose his texts well and his settings give further coherence to the set.  A river flows past, swiftly, love ends.  From  trauma to tenderness: the three Daumer songs are gentler, closer to cosy, popular misconceptions of Brahms. Lovely piano melodies, but the last song Wie bist du, meine Königen" reaches an altogether more refined level of sophistication. Goerne sings the refrain "Wonnevoll, wonnervoll" (blissful, blissful) with such grace that it feels like a moment of rapture, pulling the whole group of songs together as an integrated cycle. Again, Goerne and Eschenbach prove that Brahms exults!

Heinrich Heine, with his acidic irony, might not seem natural Brahms territory, but the Lieder nach Gedicten von Heinrich Heine op 85 (1878) are lovely.  Sommerabend and Mondenschein make an exquisite pair.  Not many concert pianists (or conductors) have the ability to accompany song with the sensitive support a singer needs. With Eschenbach, the goal is music, not showmanship, art, not ego.  Goerne can therefore sing with pointed understatement, knowing that he and Eschenbach are on the same page, literally.  The Heine set ends with Meerfahrt,  in which the lovers drift in a little boat, past a ghostly island, from which sweet music resounds. They float past "Trostlos auf weitem Meer". Are they lost, or have they escaped what might be hidden in the mists?  Brahms isn't letting on, but we don't mind as we drift on, to the sound of oars and waves. 

Eschenbach Mahler 9 LPO / database hoarding

Christoph Eschenbach can always be relied upon to find something original to hear in Mahler, so his Mahler 9th Symphony with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall on Friday was eagerly awaited. My tickets were bought a year in advance. Gosh, was I looking forward to this!

But I was underwhelmed. Obviously the fault is not Eschenbach, who has conducted this symphony many times before and knows what he's doing. Since I never do things the easy way, I won't just write negative, but for a change, think about why and how we respond to what we hear.

Obviously fatigue was a factor for me, with so much going on in the last few weeks (three conferences, more than a dozen concerts, most heavy, and four operas). Also I haven't been feeling well, even missed the premiere of Ferneyhough O Lux on Wednesday. On the other hand I usually can find the stamina for Mahler. Though no-one can conduct four concerts in a row! (grin)

Maybe it was a bad night for everyone. Christopher Maltman likes singing Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, although it's better suited to a more agile, lighter-limbed voice than his. Perhaps Maltman was under the weather too, for his voice seemed trapped, as if his lungs weren't expanding to fill out the sound. He's a good enough singer to know when something's not right, so I felt his pain (rather than the pain of the protagonist in the cycle). He must have felt even more frustrated than I did, though I suspect most people didn't notice. Eschenbach probably did, as he slowed the orchestra down, giving Maltman more room, but Maltman, concentrating so hard entered too early at one point. Still, good marks for effort.

Eschenbach's forte is clarity, a good value for Mahler 9th where the music seems to rise upwards until it disintegrates into the ether. (read more HERE) Getting to that level depends on starting with the goal in mind. Eschenbach's done it before, so I was surprised by the first movement. At first, it felt like Eschenbach were letting the LPO do their thing, which is valid enough, but ultimately, it's not a good idea for conductor and orchestra to pull in different directions. Oddly flat playing in some sections, but that's not fatal. Unlike Beckmesser, I don't carry a slate and stick.

The orchestra seemed to want to do fulsome Romantic way, which is fair enough, but Eschenbach knows his Mahler well enough to have his own ideas on interpretation. Swooping legato in the orchestra, which would have done credit to Brahms. Eschenbach's hands snap suddenly, breaking the line and restoring balance. Actually quite an interesting effect, but ultimately it's more satisfying when orchestra and conductor are on the same track. A perfectly good enough performance though. Eschenbach will always be a million miles more interesting than many others. Why Michael Tilson Thomas or even odder, Lorin Maazel?

Which leads me to think about reputation and musicality. Tilson Thomas and Maazel get the gigs because they're famous though they're so safe they kill the music. Eschenbach, Rattle, Boulez and even Abbado get flak because they're famous. It's a kind of reverse snobbery, perfectly human, but means applying non-musical values. But musicians in orchestras like these aren't so stupid and have more experience than many of their detractors.

What anyone thinks doesn't matter nearly so much is how they've arrived at what they think. For each person who forms an opinion by thinking carefully, there will always be a thousand who have no idea what they're talking about but need to make waves. There used to be, and maybe still is, a fashion for collecting reviews, extracting phrases out of context and then producing an uber-survey. (Beware of cut and paste reviews too, which can be dodgy.)  Such things look authoritative but are worthless. "Database Hoarders",  they used to be called, pundits who live in cyberspace not reality.

It's a crock, however impressive. But it needs facing because modern technology is changing the way we think. Everyone has opinions, but how do we sort them out? There will always be more who don't know or care than those who do.  That's not elitist, that's just life. Majority means nothing. Opinions are not equal, so the idea of treating them as data is fundamentally flawed. They are only valid in context and can't be mechanically processed. Ultimately, there is just no sunbstitute for the long process of listening, learning, developing a broad perspective.

Eschenbach Zemlinsky Lyric Symphony - why it's tops

Thinking again about Zemlinsky's Lyric Symphony, pulled out the Eschenbach recording again and it still gives me goosebumps. It was the first recording to use Anthony Beaumont's revised edition based on the manuscript, as opposed to what was previously published. This alone gives it an edge over the nearest contender, Riccardo Chailly (and Eschenbach's soloists are the best in the business). Because it's the smallish Capriccio and not one of the Big Bucks labels, it doesn't get the marketing it deserves. Anway here's what I wrote about the recording when it came out fresh. If anything, my admiration has deepened with time.

"It's groundbreaking because it's informed by recent discoveries about Zemlinsky and his style. Anthony Beaumont is the most perceptive of Zemlinsky scholars. His research into Zemlinsky's ideas and methods resulted in a complete re-edition of the score, revealing its true, lucid beauty.

In the 1920’s, Tagore was wildly popular in progressive circles because his rejection of materialism ran counter to the values of the time. Remember, India was still a colony. Embracing Tagore's spirituality was a kind of liberation. By using Tagore as the basis of this symphony, Zemlinsky is doing more than adopting pseudo-oriental exoticism. He knew what Tagore represented. He's not looking backward, but forward.

This performance shows with penetrating clarity just how imaginative Zemlinsky’s writing was. No muddy meandering here. Eschenbach and his soloists have thought the whole symphony through. This is an interpretation with vivid insights, gained not only from the score itself, but informed by an understanding of the music of his time.

Thus those rich drum rolls that lead into the symphony announce things to come, as drum rolls should be – quite literally a “curtain raiser” for a cosmic adventure. Immediately, refreshingly clear brass introduce the three note figure that recurs in myriad guises through the whole symphony. Then, softly, out of the orchestra, the baritones voice enters, quietly but with intense depth and feeling. “Ich bin friedlos” (a variant of the three note figure). Goerne is just over forty, still not at the peak of his powers, and yet it’s hard to imagine any singer delivering such authority and nuance to these words. The way he curls his voice around the vowels is utterly delicious – Meine Seele schweift in Sensucht, den Saum der dunkeln Weite zu berühten. You don’t need a word of German to enjoy the richness of his tone.

Berühten, becalmed. Yet this music is anything but listless. It reflects the overwhelming “thirst” in the text for distant, unknown horizons and the “Great Beyond”. Goerne sings Ich bin voll Verlangen with eagerness, then shapes the next words “und wachsam” with warm, rounded, sensuality. It’s delicious to hear two different, but valid feelings, in the space of a few seconds. Make no mistake, this music is about seeking, striving for something yet unknown, which grows from a pool of stillness.

A lovely skittish violin solo introduces the second movement. Schäfer’s voice with its pure, light quality expresses youth better than most of the sopranos who’ve sung this part. She may sound almost breathless with excitement, but she’s far too assured a singer to lose the musical line, Mutter, der junge…. the vowels underline each other., opening out. For the first time we hear an almost Bergian leap in the voice, when Zemlinsky decorates the line Zieg mir, wie soll mein Haar… Both the image and the sudden leap will recur later in the symphony. For the moment, Schäfer colours it with warmth, as though blossoming into womanhood before our ears. The music illustrating the exotic procession is one of the rare overtly “oriental” touches Zemlinsky indulges in. In the tumultuous postlude, the full orchestra surges forth, complete with drums and cymbals, yet the echoes of the three note theme gradually assert themselves as the soprano song blends seamlessly into the next baritone entry. There’s no narrative, we never discover how the girl and prince meet, if they do at all. The erotic tension and waves of sound owe much to Wagner, but also to Berg and Schoenberg. Goerne’s singing in the third movement is some of the most beautiful in the whole symphony. It is quite breathtakingly sensitive and nuanced. Du bist mein Eigen, mein Eigen, he repeats, each time with intense, but nuanced feeling. These notes, too, are repeated throughout the symphony.

The fourth movement, expands the symphony into new territory. Again, an exquisite violin solo sets the mood, which deepens with cellos and violas. Schäfer’s voice cleanly rings out Spricht’s du mir Speak to me! The line here is tender, yet also discordant, with frequent sudden leaps in pitch which are decidedly modern. So, too, is the indeterminate tonality, creating at once lushness and unreality. The music seems to hover as if it were the stuff of dreams and unconscious. It’s atmospheric, pure chromatic impressionism. There are murmurs of Spricht’s du mir, and again the painfully beautiful violin, and sinister, dark woodwind. This song is sensual, but it’s no excuse for sentimental indulgence, and the orchestra plays with well judged reticence. . It is, after all, a movement about the silence of intimacy. Nur die Bäume werden im Dunkel flüstern (only the trees will whisper in the dark),

The fanfare with which the fifth movement starts seems to drive away the strange mood that had prevailed before. It may seem relatively conventional music but this is emotionally amorphous territory. When the sixth movement starts, there’s no mistaking the modernism here. Horn and bass clarinet inject a darker, discordant mood. Schäfer’s extensive experience in new music means she copes effortlessly with those sudden tonal swoops while still keeping sensual beauty. She makes “mein gierigen Hände” sound genuinely eager. This is Ewartung, minus the harsh dementia, and all the more complex for that. The mood is rocked by rhythmic melody, as the singer becomes aware Träume lassen sich nicht eingefangen (dreams can’t be made captive). Only then does the voice rise in horror, punctuated by a single, fatal drumstroke. Has it all been an illusion ? It’s not clear, nor on what level, but that’s what makes it so intruiging. Zemlinsky wisely leaves the ideas floating. Instead, he lets the music segue, mysteriously, into the final movement.

This final song is full of interpretative possibilities. The protagonist accepts that the affair is at an end, yet is dignified and positive. Lass es nicht eine Tod sein, sondern Vollendung (let it not be a death, but completeness). Even love is sublimated in creative rebirth. Lass Liebe in Erinn’rung schmelzen und Schmerz in lieder. Let love ache and melt in memory, in song. The dignified calm with which Goerne sings confirms that the protagonist has reached that “Great Beyond” he sang of in the first movement and has found the horizons he sought.. This time, the violin returns, playing a sweet, plaintive melody. while the orchestra echoes the word Vollendung, Vollendung. Then there’s another transition. A warmer note, like a breeze, enters on the strings, and the wavering halftones resolve from minor, gradually, to major. With infinite depth , Goerne sings that last phrase Ich halte meine Lampe in die Höhe, um dir auf deinen Weg zu leuchten. I hold my lamp up high to light your way. .Lovers must part, for life has a higher purpose. “zu leuchten” is sung with such goodwill, that you feel that whoever embarks on the next phase will be going armed with knowledge and faith gained by those who care enough to light them on their way. The postlude is led by a distant woodwind, a reference to the flute that called in the very beginning of this journey. There are echoes, too, of the Du bist mein Eigen theme, emphasizing the sense of fulfilment. Gradually the wavering half tones resolve, and the music moves from minor to major, concluding in another shimmering plane of colour. .

Anthony Beaumont, in his analysis of the symphony, said “often the singers are engulfed in a dark forest of orchestral filigree work. In performance, the score requires Mozartian grace and precision. For all its abandon, this music reveals its true beauty and power only if performed with discipline and cool headed restraint”. Eschenbach recognizes its profoundly spiritual qualities, keeping the textures clear, letting them shimmer through unsullied. It’s the very purity of the orchestral playing that sheds light on the dynamics of the scoring. The soloists voices complement each other perfectly, and are in turn complemented by the elegance of the orchestral sound."

Lots more on the Lyric tymphony, Zemlinsky, Etc on this site, please explore.

Eschenbach talks Mahler with Henry-Louis de La Grange

Mahler specialist extraordinaire Professor Henry-Louis de La Grange discusses Mahler with Christoph Eschenbach.  A whole series of short clips HERE on the Orchestre de Paris site. They discuss performance practice in the light of what's known of Mahler's mind and working methods. Prof. de La Grange knows all there is to know, so it's extremely useful for interpretation. Click on each of the little blank screens to hear the video.

To hear the symphonies, click HERE. This is probably the best cycle available online, masterful performances, full of insight. Mahler 5 has just been added and Mahler 4 comes on 15th August. On 15th September, Mahler 3. Watch and listen to these, they put the Proms into perspective. There is a Mahler 8 which I've written about, but it's an experimental performance, made for French TV. Eschenbach's been a regular at the Proms for years, but in  this Mahler year, he's not there! Which is perhaps just as well as he'll eclipse most else.

Mahler 8th Eschenbach Paris download

Available now for full audio visual download is the Orchestre de Paris Mahler 8th Symphony, conducted by Christoph Eschenbach. This is a Mahler 8  like you've never experienced before or will again! Orchestre de Paris site, Eschenbach site.

It's the performance filmed for French TV at the Palais Omnisports de Paris at Bercy in March 2008. It's a stadium where popstars perform and sports events take place. It seats 8000 plus, dwarfing the Royal Albert Hall. Most symphonies would shrivel in such a place, but it's a credit to the film makers, the organizers and the orchestra that this performance actually succeeded.  The film is much better than expected, because it's made by people who really are musically informed.

I was there, at this performance, seated to the right of the stage, above the arena about halfway back, a very good spot, near enough to see the orchestra fairly close up, and near enough to see Eschenbach and his soloists slowly troop into the building from a tunnel deep in the bowels of the vast complex. What a theatrical moment! Even before the music starts, the mood is established. The idea of reverential procession is absolutely musically astute for Mahler's Eighth is a pilgrimage, a journey through suffering to sublimation.

Indeed, a very good case could be made for hearing Symphony No 8 as Mahler's true Mass. It's a profoundly spiritual experience. Astounding message, astounding approach. Catholic Masses are high theatre - processions, costumes, ceremony, choirs, all geared  to emphasizing the glory of the mystery at the heart of faith.  Eschenbach and the Orchestre de Paris may be performing in a mega complex, but it's not really all so different from the Pope appearing at Mass in St Peter's in the Vatican (crucial differences of course). Big message, big resources. Mahler knew what he was doing.

And because the message of this Symphony is uncompromising, no wimpy half measures. Eschenbach commands the orchestra : no messy entries, no waffle. Even more striking about this performance is the precision in the quieter passages. The Second Part begins remarkably quietly: like the Consecration in a Catholic Mass where God is supposed to become present,  the moment announced in silence, broken only by shrill bells. It's the holiest, most sacred part of the Mass.  The big vocal parts may be more spectacular, but this is the heart of the symphony, the critical transition. Eschenbach had huge forces before him, and thousands in the audience around him, but iit felt like that moment in the mass, where all else was irrelevant but quiet veneration.

Look out too for the moment of sheer theatre when Marisol Montalvo materialises at the top of the huge choir, resplendent in white. She's like an angel, an apparition from the Heavens! It's a wonderful touch that couldn't be done in an ordinary concert hall or before the invention of microphones, but by God, it's accurate, emotionally and musically. Listen too to the organ, specially brought in. Live, it was a bit lost in the vast space, but they've balanced the sound better on the film. Technically, this performance must have posed huge problems, so the fact that balance is generally good is something to respect. The large screens where abstract images are projected were a little distracting live, but in the film they're used in a subtle way, never intruding, and hide the blank space behind the choir.  The overwhelming size of the performance space and the vast audience was very much a part of this performance, so the sweeping panoramas are important. As with a mass, the symphony works as a communion between listeners and musicians.

In the symphony, the soloists don't sing "to" each other, as in an opera, but as separate confluent identities. It's a thoroughly orchestral way of writing for voice, so it's intelligently filmed, the camera panning widescreen, showing soloists, conductor and orchestra on the same horizontal frame. People coming new to Mahler often think this symphony is "operatic". It's understandable, but not when you really get to know his work.  Mahler decisively turned his back on writing opera even before he started writing symphonies. Fundamentally, what he was interested in was something altogether more unique: the idea of a series of semi-abstract works exploring a spiritual journey. He uses voice as part of his palette, not to create "characters"or interactive roles. So beware those who push Mahler as "an opera composer". Think, instead, of the spiritual dimension of his music, and the idea of Mahler 8 as Mass makes sense. And this performance makes you think about the nature of Mahler's spirituality and intellect.

photo: Eric Brissaud
Review of Michel van der Aa at the Barbican coming up soon.  Deeply thought provoking, emotionally demanding. Please see the post on Enschede below.and the comments

Christoph Eschenbach Mahler - FULL streaming cycle

At last, a truly superb tribute to Gustav Mahler! Christoph Eschenbach is presenting a cycle of the symphonies for free video and audio download on his site HERE.  "Each symphony was recorded with the Orchestre de Paris under the direction of Christoph Eschenbach and filmed by the director François Goetghebeur. By October 15th, 2010 the complete symphonies will be online for streaming and remain accessible until at least July 2011"

This series was developed over many years. I've been to several Eschenbach Mahler performances (not necessarily the same as the ones in these downloads)  It's a very mature, thoughtful cycle that genuinely makes a contribution to a deeper understanding of Mahler's music.  Throughout Mahler's work, there's a powerful sense of trajectory.  Eschenbach's Mahler is intelligent, stressing the architecture of each symphony and its place in the panorama of the whole. With Eschenbach, you feel that you're engaged on a journey, intellectually as well as musically.  Listen to the Second Symphony, already online. It's wonderful, structurally very clearly defined, yet with powerful emotional kick that's hard to put into words. This year there'll be much flash-in-the-pan Mahler, but this Eschenbach/Paris series is outstanding. When these are released for sale, they'll be collectors' items. For now, Eschenbach's making them available for free.
photo credit: Eric Brissaud 

Hoho! I've got excellent tickets to the Proms Mahler 8!

Goerne Eschenbach Die Schöne Müllerin Schubert

What is Schubert's Die Schöne Müllerin? Is it a pretty tale of a boy falling in love amid flowers? What is the babbling brook babbling? Listen carefully to the words, and to the piano part.

In Winterreise, the distraught man walks off into the wilderness when he's rejected. We come across the miller's lad when he's already on a journey, we don't know his past. All we know is that the lad in DsM is already a wanderer, or, as we'd say today, a drifter. And whatever may happen to the man in Winterreise, he doesn't unequivocally end up dead.

Every year there's a new crop of Die Schöne Müllerins because it's such a fascinating cycle. This new recording, by Matthias Goerne and Christoph Eschenbach on Hatmonia Mundi, is outstanding. Although there are hundreds of recordings to choose from, this one will be one of the classics. Goerne has been developing the cycle for years. Ten years ago his recording, with Eric Schneider on Decca, shocked the Lieder world. As Goerne said at the time, "What's pretty about teenage suicide?"

Even by the standards of Romantic taste, the miller's lad is neurotic. The piano rhythms are unrelenting, like the way a mill wheel turns, operating the mechanism that crushes wheat into flour. Right from the start the poet makes it clear that this isn't an ordinary journeyman, travelling from place to place seeking work. "Das Wandern ist der Müller's Lust, das Wandern!" (his exclamation point, not mine.This fellow likes the business because it's unstable. He's not really interested in settling. It's the brook he's following. "Vom Wasser haben wir's gelernt, vom Wasser!". Mills just happen to be situated on flowing streams. So the pounding rhythms in the piano part are there for a purpose, and aren't merely decorative.

The brook is a presence, with its own motives and personality. It's the second protagonist, much more vivid than the girl. It speaks through the piano part, so, even more than usual, an intuitive pianist is essential. Christoph Eschenbach's playing is exceptional, each note carefully placed and shaded, its charm and elegance developing into outright menace near the end. The final Wegenlied is no lullaby. The brook doesn't mother but jealously smothers. Not even blaue Blümelien are allowed to look in. This is where those relentless rhythms were leading, and why they don't let go. Eschenbach shows how they mimic footfalls, but they're far more powerful.

Eschenbach was a pianist long before he started conducting. His wartime childhood was so traumatic that he was unable to speak until he was about 12, when his adoptive parents got him a piano. So this is a man who understands instinctively how a piano can express things that can't be put into words. Dozens of great pianists have loved this cycle - Richter, Brendel, Cooper, but Eschenbach brings something extra, making this disc a must for anyone wanting to appreciate the piano part and how it works with the voice.

But Goerne! Here he is in perfect voice. He's still only 41, young by singer standards, but has been singing since he was a child. Experience, and emotional depth, does matter in a cycle like DsM, which operates on several different levels. It's not enough to sing on the surface. Fritz Wunderlich's performances are so preternaturally beautiful, all other considerations are suspended: rather like listening to someone so delusional that you're drawn into the glow of their unreality. Not that Wunderlich probably realized, he was just in love with himself. Like Narcissus who loved his reflection in the water, fell in and drowned. Maybe that's why Wunderlich's recording works despite its being shallow. It's closer to DsM than we realize ?

Listen to how Goerne breathes nuance into the words with obvious effort flowing into the curved shapes of phrases like an elegant, sensuous musical instruments. This is Lieder singing, where musical sensitivity is part of the aesthetic. Don't approach with opera values. Lieder sings don't "act", they channel. If there's one thing tha might sum up Goerne's performance, it's that he's singing with a palpable sense of wonder. For wonder is part of this cycle. The miller's lad is wonderstruck by the brook and what it reveals to him. He talks to it, asking for signals, ignoring the real girl beside him on the riverbank. These songs are the intimate heart of the cycle, tinged with tenderness. The miller's lad gets angry with the girl because she has a life in which he doesn't play a part. She hasn't done anything bad, but the brook plays upon his insecurity, its malevolence towards her more violent than his own pain. That's why the blue flowers in the Wegenlied pose such a threat to the brook's hold over the boy, for they represent the girl's eyes and an alternative reality.

Goerne's first Die Schöne Müllerin is crucial because it is the most haunted, savage version around, an important antidote to superficial pap, but for that same reason it isn't comfortable to listen to because it's not a comfortable subject. This new recording, with Eschenbach, certainly does not stint on meaning, but shrouds it in more complex mystery. The miller's lad here is truly bewitched, engrossed in the wonder of the secret bond he has with the brook. To him, such magic is more natural than outside reality. In many ways, this approach is far more unsettling than the earlier recording because it seems so seductive and convincing. But beware.

The elegance and refinement of Goerne's singing is like the brook, lots of hidden depths beneath the surface. It's a journey through several stages, but you get sucked into the miller's mind without hardly realizing. Yet Goerne's controlled restraint at critical points reminds us that the lad's mind is not a good place to be. This performance is utterly compelling, yet in some ways even more disturbing than the first, because it's so seductive. I've heard dozens of DsMs over 40 years, but this one is easily one of the best, top of my listening pile for the last 3 months.

Goerne Eschenbach Winterreise

When Matthias Goerne was about six, he heard Winterreise and was captivated. Obviously, he was too young to understand all the complex emotions in the piece but what he recognized was that they mattered. Winterreise is so powerful that even a child, albeit a talented one, could be inspired to commit it to memory.

There have been hundreds of Winterreises at the Wigmore Hall over the years. This is an audience that knows the work bar by bar and isn't easily impressed, so when most of the house stood up in applause it was serious praise indeed. I first heard Goerne sing Winterreise some 15 years ago, near the start of his adult career (he was a child prodigy in East Germany). He was only 26, yet Irwin Gage was playing, and Alfred Brendel was listening in the stalls, rapt with attention. Goerne and Brendel became a legendary partnership, creating some of the finest Schubert performances ever produced. Their recording of Winterreise is one of the must-hear classics.

Christoph Eschenbach is a superlative Schubert performer too, so this new series of Schubert cycles at the Wigmore Hall is a significant event. Goerne and Eschenbach have already recorded Die Schöne Mullerin as part of the new Harmonia Mundi Schubert Edition. Goerne's earlier recording of that cycle is exceptional. Quite frankly, you can't "know" DsM without having heard that, because it puts paid to the myth that the cycle is sweet and innocent. Darker undercurrents almost always flow through the Romantic (see other posts on Schubert on this blog - I will write more later as Schubert is where I cut my teeth).

Goerne doesn't do mundane. With Eschenbach, he's refining his approach to Winterreise yet again, this time even more cognizant of the structural underpinnings beneath the text. Each song marks a different stage in the journey, and those stages are in themselves significant, to be savoured for what they portend. The journey starts in a huff, the protagonist impulsively dashing out of town, the wind images in Die Wetterfahne expressing turbulent confusion. Gradually the woman who caused the problem fades into a more generalised image on which the man can hang his feelings. Der Lindenbaum is a temporary halt, a short moment of calm before die kalten Winde bliesen.. Then the true impact of the words ich wendete mich nicht. sinks in.

This is a psychological journey, away from the town and its bourgeois values. The protagonist is out in the wilderness, in uncharted territory, where only animal spoor marks a path. Thus Goerne and Eschenbach employ a deliberate, watchful pace: paying close attention to each passage, every detail counts. Eschenbach even brought out the faint pre echo of the posthorn that appears as early as Der Lindenbaum. Similarly, the village dogs appear, in the rhythms that start Im Dorfe.

Landscape is important in Winterreise: it is a mirror of the protagonist's soul. Schubert builds images of nature into the piano part not merely to illustrate text, but to act as an alter ego, almost a third party commentary beyond the protagonist's highly subjective anguish. Pathetic fallacy operates, of course, for the protagonist hears his troubles reflected in the storm and swollen river, and sees frost patterns as flowers. But there's infinitely more to the idea of Nature in the Romantic imagination. It stands as a symbol of something greater than mankind, something that endures beyond the personal and immediate.

This has implications for interpretation. Some performances depend on exaggeratedly emotional singing, on the assumption that the protagonist must be mad, since he gives up civilization to follow a crazy old beggar. Thus follows the idea that the journey can only end in death. But that trivializes the whole logic behind the cycle. If the protagonist is mad, why are we so drawn into this psychodrama? Wilhelm Muller – and Schubert – wanted us to experience the journey through the man's feelings, to sympathize with why someone should choose a wilder path in life. Perhaps in more psychologically repressed times the idea of madness and death prevailed but for the Romantics angst was a code for what we now call the subconscious. The Romantic interest in emotional extremes was a reaction to the tidy elegance of classicism. Schubert's contemporaries were troubled by the world Winterreise revealed, and rightly so.

The protagonist is driven to his limits but never loses sight of the world around him, even though he interprets it in terms of himself, for example when he thinks the crow is a companion. In that sense he's not a depressive, turned entirely away from reality. Some point to Der Nebensoonen as evidence that the man must be nuts if he sees three suns in the sky. But it's a physical phenomenon that in extreme cold, the sun appears distorted in this way. For a century, we've become so used to electricity and urban living that we can't imagine such things as reality. Goerne sings with quiet, understated dignity, as if he's witnessing a miracle in nature. True, the protagonist still sees the eyes of his beloved wrought as huge cosmic images in the sky, but perhaps there's something more.

The cycle ends with the strange hurdy-gurdy of Der Leiermann. The Leier isn't a lyre, but a primitive instrument, turned rather tha actively played, making a mechanical circular sound. Can music be reduced to lesser things ? The old man is barfuß auf dem Eise, barefoot on the ice, exposed to the elements, without a shred of bourgeois respectabilty. And yet he doggedly makes his way from village to village, despite being hounded by dogs and men. Wunderliches Alte! sings the protagonist, what kind of phenomenom is this? Orpheus in rags?

Goerne sings the final sentence with overwhelming grace and wonder. Willst zu meinen Liedern Deine Lieier drehn? Will the man follow the old beggar, who perhaps once set out on a similar journey? Perhaps he's like the crow, whose companionship is coincidental not real. But the old man is human annd plays a vaguely musical instrument. Perhaps he's a symbol of the power of music, which like Nature endures whatever may happen to an individual. Throughout the cycle, the rhythms of the hurdy gurdy and lurching footsteps lurk in the shifts of pace and intensity. The Leiermann haunts the whole piece, though it takes performance of this very high standard to bring them out.

Schoenberg Zemlinsky Salonen London

On Thursday 12th at the South Bank, Esa Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra will be playing Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht and Zemlinsky's Lyrische Symphonie. Before that Oliver Knussen will be conducting two of his own song cycles, the wonderful Songs for Sue and Ocean de terre. Claire Booth sings Knussen - this should be very good indeed as she's made the cycles her own, she sings them so well.

Everybody but everybody repeats the usual cliché connecting Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde and Zemlinsky's LS ((code to save typing the whole name). It's much wiser though, to listen to each piece on its own terms and appreciate how unique each one is. Both are symphonies with song. Zemlinsky sets lines from Tagore about two lovers in ancient India. There's a sort of narrative, though it's not clear, but the parts are a kind of dialogue. Mahler sets Chinese poetry, but his songs don't relate to each other causatively. They are expressions of internal psychological states. Mahler's destination is linear, oriented towards transcendence, even if he refers to the return of Spring. Zemlinsky's piece is more circular, like the wheel of karma. Lots more - just listen, for comparison clouds just how original each piece is.

What the Viennese secession did was break away from the hyperfervid neurosis of High Victorian taste, the claustrophobia that exists even in Wagner. That's why it ushered in more fluid lines in design, painting, literature. Zemlinsky is a lot more than an obtuse proto-Wagnerian. He's the missing link (if there is one) between Mahler and the Second Viennese School. He uses extreme exotic lushness but doesn't swoon. Instead the whole thrust is towards new frontiers, new ideas. Prince and girl know they have to go their separate ways. He sings "Ich halte meine Lampe in die Höhe, um dir uf deinen Weg zu leuchten". I hold my lamp up high to light you on your way. Light, again, but a different kind of light. In a good performance of this symphony you can hear pre-echoes of Berg quite distinctly. Zemlinsky knew what was happening around him.

Oddly enough there are lots of tickets left for the performance on Thursday. Below is a description of the most illuminating recording of the LS ever. Scroll down , enjoy

Zemlinsky Lyrische Symphonie Magic Eschenbach

This is an absolutely fantastic recording of Zemlinsky's Lyrische Symphonie. At one stage I used to have 'em all, but this one is so outstanding it eclipses all else. Eschenbach, Orchestre de Paris, Goerne and Schafer (a dream team).

It's groundbreaking because it's informed by recent discoveries about Zemlinsky and his style. Anthony Beaumont’s is the most perceptive of Zemlinsky scholars. His research into Zemlinsky's ideas and methods resulted in a complete re-edition of the score, revealing its true, lucid beauty.

In the 1920’s, Tagore was wildly popular in progressive circles because his rejection of materialism ran counter to the values of the time. Remember, India was still a colony. Embracing Tagore's spirituality was a kind of liberation. By using Tagore as the basis of this symphony, Zemlinsky is doing more than adopting pseudo-oriental exoticism. He knew what Tagore represented. He's not looking backward, but forward..

This performance shows with penetrating clarity just how imaginative Zemlinsky’s writing was. No muddy meandering here. Eschenbach and his soloists have thought the whole symphony through. This is an interpretation with vivid insights, gained not only from the score itself, but informed by an understanding of the music of his time.

Thus those rich drum rolls that lead into the symphony announce things to come, as drum rolls should be – quite literally a “curtain raiser” for a cosmic adventure. Immediately, refreshingly clear brass introduce the three note figure that recurs in myriad guises through the whole symphony. Then, softly, out of the orchestra, the baritones voice enters, quietly but with intense depth and feeling. “Ich bin friedlos” (a variant of the three note figure). Goerne is just over forty, still not at the peak of his powers, and yet it’s hard to imagine any singer delivering such authority and nuance to these words. The way he curls his voice around the vowels is utterly delicious – Meine Seele schweift in Sensucht, den Saum der dunkeln Weite zu berühten. You don’t need a word of German to enjoy the richness of his tone.

Berühten, becalmed. Yet this music is anything but listless. It reflects the overwhelming “thirst” in the text for distant, unknown horizons and the “Great Beyond”. Goerne sings Ich bin voll Verlangen with eagerness, then shapes the next words “und wachsam” with warm, rounded, sensuality. It’s delicious to hear two different, but valid feelings, in the space of a few seconds. Make no mistake, this music is about seeking, striving for something yet unknown, which grows from a pool of stillness.

A lovely skittish violin solo introduces the second movement. Schäfer’s voice with its pure, light quality expresses youth better than most of the sopranos who’ve sung this part. She may sound almost breathless with excitement, but she’s far too assured a singer to lose the musical line, Mutter, der junge…. the vowels underline each other., opening out. For the first time we hear an almost Bergian leap in the voice, when Zemlinsky decorates the line Zieg mir, wie soll mein Haar… Both the image and the sudden leap will recur later in the symphony. For the moment, Schäfer colours it with warmth, as though blossoming into womanhood before our ears. The music illustrating the exotic procession is one of the rare overtly “oriental” touches Zemlinsky indulges in. In the tumultuous postlude, the full orchestra surges forth, complete with drums and cymbals, yet the echoes of the three note theme gradually assert themselves as the soprano song blends seamlessly into the next baritone entry. There’s no narrative, we never discover how the girl and prince meet, if they do at all. The erotic tension and waves of sound owe much to Wagner, but also to Berg and Schoenberg. Goerne’s singing in the third movement is some of the most beautiful in the whole symphony. It is quite breathtakingly sensitive and nuanced. Du bist mein Eigen, mein Eigen, he repeats, each time with intense, but nuanced feeling. These notes, too, are repeated throughout the symphony .

The fourth movement, expands the symphony into new territory. Again, an exquisite violin solo sets the mood, which deepens with cellos and violas. Schäfer’s voice cleanly rings out Spricht’s du mir Speak to me! The line here is tender, yet also discordant, with frequent sudden leaps in pitch which are decidedly modern. So, too, is the indeterminate tonality, creating at once lushness and unreality. The music seems to hover as if it were the stuff of dreams and unconscious. It’s atmospheric, pure chromatic impressionism. There are murmurs of Spricht’s du mir, and again the painfully beautiful violin, and sinister, dark woodwind. This song is sensual, but it’s no excuse for sentimental indulgence, and the orchestra plays with well judged reticence. . It is, after all, a movement about the silence of intimacy. Nur die Bäume werden im Dunkel flüstern (only the trees will whisper in the dark),

The fanfare with which the fifth movement starts seems to drive away the strange mood that had prevailed before. It may seem relatively conventional music but this is emotionally amorphous territory. When the sixth movement starts, there’s no mistaking the modernism here. Horn and bass clarinet inject a darker, discordant mood. Schäfer’s extensive experience in new music means she copes effortlessly with those sudden tonal swoops while still keeping sensual beauty. She makes “mein gierigen Hände” sound genuinely eager. This is Ewartung, minus the harsh dementia, and all the more complex for that. The mood is rocked by rhythmic melody, as the singer becomes aware Träume lassen sich nicht eingefangen (dreams can’t be made captive). Only then does the voice rise in horror, punctuated by a single, fatal drumstroke. Has it all been an illusion ? It’s not clear, nor on what level, but that’s what makes it so intruiging. Zemlinsky wisely leaves the ideas floating. Instead, he lets the music segue, mysteriously, into the final movement.

This final song is full of interpretative possibilities. The protagonist accepts that the affair is at an end, yet is dignified and positive. Lass es nicht eine Tod sein, sondern Vollendung (let it not be a death, but completeness). Even love is sublimated in creative rebirth. Lass Liebe in Erinn’rung schmelzen und Schmerz in lieder. Let love ache and melt in memory, in song. The dignified calmy with which Goerne sings confirms that the protagonist has reached that “Great Beyond” he sang of in the first movement and has found the horizons he sought.. This time, the violin returns, playing a sweet, plaintive melody., while the orchestra echoes the word Vollendung, Vollendung. Then there’s another transition. A warmer note, like a breeze, enters on the strings, and the wavering halftones resolve from minor, gradually, to major. With infinite depth , Goerne sings that last phrase Ich halte meine Lampe in die Höhe, um dir auf deinen Weg zu leuchten. I hold my lamp up high to light your way. .Lovers must part, for life has a higher purpose. “zu leuchten” is sung with such goodwill, that you feel that whoever embarks on the next phase will be going armed with knowledge and faith gained by those who care enough to light them on their way. The postlude is led by a distant woodwind, a reference to the flute that called in the very beginning of this journey. There are echoes, too, of the Du bist mein Eigen theme, emphasizing the sense of fulfillment. Gradually the wavering half tones resolve, and the music moves from minor to major, concluding in another shimmering plane of colour. .

Anthony Beaumont, in his analysis of the symphony, said “often the singers are engulfed in a dark forest of orchestral filigree work. In performance, the score requires Mozartian grace and precision. For all its abandon, this music reveals its true beauty and power only in performed with discipline and cool headed restraint”. Eschenbach recognizes its profoundly spiritual qualities, keeping the textures clear, letting them shimmer through unsullied. It’s the very purity of the orchestral playing that sheds light on the dynamics of the scoring. The soloists voices complement each other perfectly, and are in turn complemented by the elegance of the orchestral sound.

Mahler 1 Eschenbach Prom 74

Mahler's First Symphony - Eschenbach and Orchestre de Paris, Prom 74

Two days before, Bernard Haitink’s Mahler 6^th with the Chicago Symphony had drawn a capacity crowd. In contrast, this Prom was woefully under-attended. Yet it was by far the superior performance, appealing not to celebrity followers but to those interested in the music.

Mahler’s 1^st Symphony may be familiar but it reveals a great deal about how well a conductor really understands the composer. Eschenbach hears the symphony in the context of Mahler’s entire output, from the very early songs through to the later symphonies. This is perceptive, for some have even suggested that the composer's whole oeuvre is one huge symphony in different stages. This performance thus presumes more engagement from listeners than does the current fashion for loud and bombastic. But a conductor with integrity goes for insight, not short-term popularity. This performance was rewarding because it shed light on where Mahler was coming from and where he was heading.

The songs of Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen weave through the symphony for a reason, not merely as decoration. While there’s no need to remember the words exactly, it’s important to remember their spirit – youth, nature, disappointment and ultimately resolution – themes that recur repeatedly throughout Mahler’s work. It's significant that Mahler specified that the trumpets in the introduction should be from a distance. The songs and marches in this symphony aren’t happening in realtime but are filtered through memory, heard from afar, carrying connotations that go beyond literal representation. Thus Eschenbach doesn’t do the marches with brass band brutality. These aren’t “military” marches but memories of marches Mahler heard in childhood, symbolizing many things, like innocence, nostalgia, loss. Hence the Bruder Martin melody. Eschenbach eschews the temptation to play them up for garish impact but makes a more subtle connection to the world of Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Thus the menacing storm of the final movement isn’t just an episode, but a kind of psychological working through, as being a teenager prepares a person for adulthood. Mahler’s protagonist is moving on, heading out into the world.

Of all Mahler’s symphonies, the First is perhaps the only one that can survive an arrogant, noisy interpretation, because adolescence involves being full of oneself ! But Eschenbach showed clearly how the symphony is far from one-dimensional.

Hérodiade Fragmente - Matthias Pintscher Prom

Matthias Pintscher was born only in 1971 but his music has already made waves. Boulez conducted his Osiris this May in London and Boulez  doesn't conduct things that aren't worth doing. Hérodiade Fragmente was premiered by Abbado in Berlin in 1999 with Christine Schafer : not minor league ! Of all the "new" music in this year's Prom season this was easily the most intriguing - listen to the re-broadcast.

The text is to Mallarmé's epic poem, a fin de siècle drama of sexual repression and undefinable longings. "J'attends un chose inconnue" sings the soprano. Pintscher leaves the line unadorned, the voice alone and unsupported. It's the still, silent heart of the piece. Read the whole poem to get the full context. Hérodiade is a girl surrounded by sensual excess, which fascinates and repels her. Pintscher focuses solely on her dialogue with the mirror, intensifying the surreal mood. The vocal line is sensual, lovely sighing vowels, but emotions are cut off in sudden cries, their import too much for the girl to handle. But the mirror doesn't shirk. Pintscher's orchestral writing is superb. The mirror takes on a powerful life of its own, commenting and reflecting what words can't express. The strings shimmer, dense and opaque, a smooth hard surface that reflects without relenting. It seems still, and calm. But then the music shatters into jagged, angular staccato. Glass is fragile, it can break into lethal shards. Pintscher also writes eerie circular figures, like the sounds of wet fingers rubbing on glass. It's spooky yet childlike, reminding us how young the girl is. Eschenbach gets wonderfully subdued playing from the Orchestre de Paris - long, barely audible humming, even from the brass, which is quite a feat. This captures the suppressed emotion in the poem, feelings so painful they can only be whispered at. It's beautiful, yet sinister. As the girl's "froides pierreries" drop away in "les sanglots supremes et meurtris", the music explodes in wounded sobs, the percussion ringing bells that could either be celebration or calls of alarm.

Mallarmé knew he was entering dangerous new territory with this poem. He needed symbols that were oblique, to "paint , not the thing itself but the effect it produces". So Pintscher's music profoundly reflects the spirit of the poem - like a mirror, quiet but unflinching.

Review of Mahler 1 will follow shortly, watch this space.