Wunderhorn, Barbican, London - review

Who would have thought that a film of Mahler's innocent songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn would merit an 18 certificate? It makes one wonder what classification some other musical works might get. How about a vampire film version of Mussorgsky's Night on the Bare Mountain? Or X-rated visuals to go with Scriabin's Poem of Ecstasy?

The idea behind this project was to take all of Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn settings, including the songs he did not orchestrate, and turn them into a full evening's concert with an accompanying silent film, directed by Clara Pons. The premiere was given in Brussels and this London performance by the BBC Symphony Orchestra will be followed by others in Rotterdam, The Hague, Geneva and elsewhere.

Trying to create films out of classical music is not a new idea. Walt Disney's Fantasia set the bar pretty high early on. More recent film projects, such as the stage performances of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde with video art by Bill Viola, have been more experimental, but not necessarily better.

Pons's Wunderhorn film takes a middle road - not too radical, not too interesting. The story, told in flashbacks, follows the unhappy love life of a soldier before his execution. The first world war period fits with the dark premonitions of Mahler's song settings, which date from the 1890s. Pons has kept commendably close to the simple, folkloric content of the poetry, but that only serves to make it more irritating when poem and images do not fit. Where was the dying child in "Das irdische Leben"? Why does the playful song "Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt" accompany a rape and a murder? Perhaps the visual imagery should not have been so penny-plain.

It did not help that the musical performance, with new orchestrations by Detlev Glanert where necessary, was also on the prosaic side. Baritone Dietrich Henschel, who takes the lead in the film, started the evening in dry voice, though he rallied later, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Alexander Vedernikov needed a finer touch. At an inspiring performance of Mahler's songs, the images in the mind's eye take some beating.

barbican.org.uk

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