Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Mahler's problem child

Maestro Ling discusses Mahler's Seventh Symphony.

Jahja Ling - Image by Briana Houston
Jahja Ling
Place

Jacobs Music Center/Copley Symphony Hall

750 B Street, San Diego

Let’s talk a little more about Mahler. His Seventh Symphony is this weekend at San Diego Symphony and I was able to speak to non other than Maestro Ling about Mahler’s “problem child”.

We spoke about more than Mahler. We spoke about Bruckner, Cleveland, China, the number of new symphony players in the last ten years, music outreach, Bernstein, Royal Albert Hall, Telarc, Yo Yo Ma, Carnegie Hall, and so much more but for now I’m going to limit it to Mahler and the upcoming concert.

Jahja Ling: I agree, Mahler’s Seventh is a problem child. Few audiences can understand it and only a few conductors dare to play it. This is the first time it will be played at San Diego Symphony.

Sponsored
Sponsored

San Diego Reader : Who is playing the cowbell?

JL: That’s the thing, when you mention the cowbell. Mahler started composing, not with the first movement, he started with the second movement, with the Nachtmusik. Some people think night music, terrible, dark, nightmare, the tragedy of his daughter dying. Night doesn’t only mean darkness or nightmare. It could be a beautiful dream. It could be a relaxing evening. After all the tragedy of the Sixth Mahler is coming back from that and relaxing and finding comfort. Then when you bring up the cowbell that’s when Mahler is presenting the pastoral mood. It’s like Psalm 23, ‘Yea though I pass through the valley of the shadow of death...’ and we arrive at a green pasture — and you hear the cowbells. That’s why I feel you base the interpretation on the second movement. Mahler also uses mandolin and guitar which gives it a feeling of a serenade. It’s almost schmaltzy. It’s like you're singing to someone you love.

SDR: Romeo and Juliet.

JL: Ya! and then of course the scherzo is another Nachtmusik in disguise. The outer movements are the most modern of any Mahler because of the harmony and the juxtaposition of the melody — it’s just crazy.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Will L.A. Times crowd out San Diego U-T at Riverside printing plant?

Will Toni Atkins stand back from anti-SDG&E initiative?
Next Article

Mid-range fleet scoring bluefin limits off Ensenada

Rockfish to open at all depths April 1st (no foolin’)
Jahja Ling - Image by Briana Houston
Jahja Ling
Place

Jacobs Music Center/Copley Symphony Hall

750 B Street, San Diego

Let’s talk a little more about Mahler. His Seventh Symphony is this weekend at San Diego Symphony and I was able to speak to non other than Maestro Ling about Mahler’s “problem child”.

We spoke about more than Mahler. We spoke about Bruckner, Cleveland, China, the number of new symphony players in the last ten years, music outreach, Bernstein, Royal Albert Hall, Telarc, Yo Yo Ma, Carnegie Hall, and so much more but for now I’m going to limit it to Mahler and the upcoming concert.

Jahja Ling: I agree, Mahler’s Seventh is a problem child. Few audiences can understand it and only a few conductors dare to play it. This is the first time it will be played at San Diego Symphony.

Sponsored
Sponsored

San Diego Reader : Who is playing the cowbell?

JL: That’s the thing, when you mention the cowbell. Mahler started composing, not with the first movement, he started with the second movement, with the Nachtmusik. Some people think night music, terrible, dark, nightmare, the tragedy of his daughter dying. Night doesn’t only mean darkness or nightmare. It could be a beautiful dream. It could be a relaxing evening. After all the tragedy of the Sixth Mahler is coming back from that and relaxing and finding comfort. Then when you bring up the cowbell that’s when Mahler is presenting the pastoral mood. It’s like Psalm 23, ‘Yea though I pass through the valley of the shadow of death...’ and we arrive at a green pasture — and you hear the cowbells. That’s why I feel you base the interpretation on the second movement. Mahler also uses mandolin and guitar which gives it a feeling of a serenade. It’s almost schmaltzy. It’s like you're singing to someone you love.

SDR: Romeo and Juliet.

JL: Ya! and then of course the scherzo is another Nachtmusik in disguise. The outer movements are the most modern of any Mahler because of the harmony and the juxtaposition of the melody — it’s just crazy.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Mid-range fleet scoring bluefin limits off Ensenada

Rockfish to open at all depths April 1st (no foolin’)
Next Article

Dating Sites For Little People: Best Platforms & Tips

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.