Millennium Centre, Cardiff
Perhaps only a conductor of the stamina and commitment of Valery Gergiev would contemplate a performance of Mahler's 8th Symphony less than 24 hours after fininshing Wagner's Parsifal. Their common pursuit of the theme of redemption gave the pairing of these two works a particular resonance at the beginning of Holy Week.
As the vast forces sang the words of the medieval hymn Veni Creator Spiritus, which Mahler makes the basis of the first movement of his choral symphony, the gargantuan sound was almost overwhelming. The Millennium Centre's auditorium is a relatively intimate space, and when the hyper-projection of the seven Mariinsky soloists was equally vigorous – perhaps to counter being ranged on the far left of the stage, singing across the orchestra – Gergiev should have erred on the side of caution. The absence of a libretto in the programme, or surtitles of any kind, only further obfuscated Mahler's balance of liturgical words with those of the final scene of Goethe's Faust; certainly, no light was shed on the question of parallels with Parsifal. Nevertheless, Gergiev found the necessary poise between the extremes of elemental force and the sometimes transparent instrumental textures.
His commanding control made something irresistible of the massive musical flow – the admirable Mariinsky chorus joined by the BBC National Chorus of Wales and the joyous brightness of the specially formed Only Kids Aloud – as well as the spatial effects of voice and brass from up on high in the galleries. Tenor Sergey Semishkur's Doctor Marianus stood out, as did mezzos Ekaterina Semenchuk and Zlata Bulycheva. Yet, for emotional impact, nothing could better the hushed voices of the Chorus Mysticus, making the contrast with its ultimate, climactic repetition all the more reverberant.