SF Symphony: Messiaen's L'Ascension

Every so often we get to the Symphony in between dance performances, and we didn't want to miss out on a chance to hear some Messiaen. So on a dreadfully drippy night, we squished in our soaked shoes over to Davies to hear Myung-Whun Chung conduct the San Francisco Symphony.

Messiaen is, for me, always a bit of a mixed experience. Sometimes I don't know what to make of him, sometimes I'm just blown away. L'Ascension is certainly not an easy work-- it moves through four movements at a glacial pace, and yet, Chung managed to uncover fantastic, spine-tingling episodes in the Alleluias. I found myself completely absorbed in a sort of frozen moment in time, which I guess, is Messiaen's mission.

By contrast, Chung's Mahler was a mixed bag for me. Bringing Mahler to SF is like coals to Newcastle, and I'm very much attached to MTT's interpretation, which seems to "sing" more than the version we heard on Friday night.

Chung takes the "Langsam. Schleppend" (Slow. Dragging.) directive quite literally-- to the point of schlepping dullness for me. It seems his motive is to create a contrast with the frenzied pace that he takes in the accelerandos, which was in some ways effective, but also started to sound schizophrenic to me. Who is this crazy guy whipping the musicians around up there?

By the third movement, the orchestra had taken on a richer slow burn-- a tone set by Scott Pingel's burnished double bass solo. Chung eschews the breathy "wait for it..." pauses that MTT takes, and to which I've grown accustomed, and it's a bit of a pity, because I think that his fourth movement lacks a certain logic-- under his baton, the symphony plays beautifully -- but it is just not as expressive an organism.