Bloch's debut with RTVE

Alexandre Bloch conducted his first concert as the new director of the Chorus and Orchestra of the Spanish Radio and Television (RTVE) with Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2, known as Resurrection. The concert took place in front of a full audience at the Teatro Monumental.

Bloch's background and introduction

Bloch, who previously served as director of the Orchestre National de Lille from 2016 to 2024, delivered a friendly introductory speech in Spanish with a French accent and outlined the ambitious program of the concert, which marks the beginning of his new role as musical director in Madrid.

Concert's thematic structure

The concert was conceived as a journey from life to death divided into three stages (Autumn, Winter, and Spring), symbolized by the three works performed in sequence: Im Herbst from Johannes Brahms's Five Songs Op. 104/5, Enosh by Louis Lewandowski, and Mahler's Symphony No. 2. The program was structured to reflect a progression from autumn to winter to spring, with the symphony representing the final stage of resurrection.

Brahms's Im Herbst

Im Herbst by Brahms opened the concert. It is a short piece from the composer's maturity (1888), composed on a poem by Klaus Groth, imbued with melancholy and wisdom. The RTVE Choir's interpretation was noted for its nuances and fervor, as well as the cohesion and clarity in the arrangement of the different sections under Bloch's baton.

Lewandowski's Enosh

Enosh by Louis Lewandowski (1821-1894) continued in fervor. It is a miniature work of biblical inspiration, a prayer that accompanies mourning. The piece involved the RTVE Choir and Orchestra and served as a warm-up before the Symphony No. 2.

Mahler's Symphony No. 2

The symphony is divided into four movements, and Bloch delivered a committed reading, almost expressionist, imbued with pain and anguish, fervor and fear, but also hope. The Totenfeier began with the grave and threatening sounds of the double basses, alternating moments of fierce anger (percussion, brass) and anxious or pastoral episodes (small harmony, harp, English horn) on a tense and contrasting phrasing. The performance was supported by a strict and precise setup and elevated by an absolute mastery of dynamics. However, the acoustics of the hall were noted as questionable, leading to a relative saturation of sound in the powerful forte passages.

Andante and Scherzo movements

The Andante was a graceful and gallant Ländler (strings), with Bloch highlighting the ambiguous, tormented (small harmony) and expectant (pizzicato strings) character. The third movement was a grating and ironic Scherzo, typically Mahlerian, composed on the Lied "Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt" from the Wunderhorn. Bloch's interpretation included resounding timpani and was interrupted in the middle by a meditative Trio before concluding with a formidable crescendo. An emotionally moving piano emerged, superbly supported by the harp, with the first syllables of Urlicht (Original Light) extracted from the Wunderhorn. However, the contralto Carol Garcia was noted for singing it poorly, lacking projection, elevation, low register, and legato, which rendered the Lied unrecognizable.

Symphony's final movement

The Final opened with a crashing entrance of brass and percussion. Bloch developed a long chaotic, furious, and anxious journey, using many musical effects (spatialized brass on the balconies and in the wings, threatening percussion). The Resurrection, long delayed (as in Beethoven's Ninth), was announced by the entrance of the choir in pianissimo, soon joined by soprano Elena Sancho Pereg to proclaim the famous "Aufstehen" from Klopstock. The gates of heaven were finally opened in a cataclysmic triple fortissimo coda that recruited all the sections and singers to provide a hopeful and fervent answer to the questions posed in the first movement, concluding magnificently this stunning interpretation, which was greeted triumphantly by the entire audience.