MONTREAL — Mahler is very much a go-to guy for Rafael Payare. Having led the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal through all the completed symphonies except No. 8 — plus Das Lied von der Erde and the Rückert-Lieder — the Venezuelan conductor on Sept. 16 opted to open the 2026-27 season with the work Mahler declared to be his Opus 1, Das klagende Lied. It was an engaging if sometimes sonically taxing evening.
To be sure, young Mahler provides plenty of materiel in this hour-long cantata. There were 92 instrumentalists on the stage of the Maison symphonique and 110 choristers in the lofts. Add 18 unseen musicians stationed as a banda in the covered pit and you have a complement to compare with those that populate the Second and Third Symphonies.
Nor were the coloristic effects much less remarkable. We heard big brass chorales, thundering timpani strokes, luxuriant washes from four harps, and vividly balanced woodwinds (including the luminous Timothy Hutchins, starting his 49th season as principal flute). The many melodic premonitions of the Wunderhorn symphonies hit the ear, anachronistically, as self-references. Das klagende Lied scans very nearly as mature Mahler.
Which is not to say it makes an entirely satisfying impression. Payare used a composite version of the score linking the original first movement of 1880, “Waldmärchen,” with the second and third movements as revised by Mahler in 1893 and 1898 (by which time the composer had discarded “Waldmärchen”).
The final product on this occasion had the bright-sounding Swedish soprano Miah Persson and the husky-voiced Montreal contralto Rose Naggar-Tremblay (rather than boy trebles) impersonating the brothers at the heart of the fratricidal story as well as performing narrative service. American tenor Clay Hilley applied a ringing tone to the part of the Minstrel who discovers the remains of the murdered brother (including a bone that doubles as a talkative flute). The Choeur de l’OSM (as prepared by Andrew Megill) sounded robust in the alternating shouts of joy and woe, the latter proving more relevant to the denouement at a wedding party that does not go exactly as planned.
Das klagende Lied can be approached simply as an audio extravaganza, but the Brothers Grimm story on which Mahler based his libretto does have an arc, which Payare and company did not fully capture. Many of the forte passages sounded cranked up to the max. I plugged my ears on a couple of occasions — a precaution that should not be necessary. The final chord (which I knew was coming) hit so hard the flummoxed crowd took a moment to summon the mandatory standing ovation.
The 30-minute first part of the concert was made of subtler stuff. The noted German baritone Matthias Goerne (scarcely recognizable with eyeglasses and a growth of hair) had little to do in the cantata and so was tasked with six selections from Des Knaben Wunderhorn, including low-set songs like “Der Tamboursg’sell,” which he negotiated with a buffo-bassy sonority. We are used to hearing “Urlicht” dealt with by a female voice. Happily, the depth of expression overcame the initial feeling of strangeness.
Singing from memory, Goerne held his arms out in an embracing gesture and rocked steadily from side to side. My preference is for a more straight-up deportment. Payare was in flexible form, accommodating Goerne’s generous applications of rubato. Instrumental solos were excellent. Associate principal trumpet Stéphane Beaulac was a lyrical advocate of “Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen.”
In her lengthy opening remarks, OSM president Mélanie La Couture asked (in a friendly way) for no applause between the Wunderhorn songs or the movements of the cantata. It worked. This sort of announcement should become as standard at symphony concerts as requests to shut off cellphones.
Footnote: This was not the first OSM performance of Das klagende Lied. Charles Dutoit led the premiere on Nov. 28, 1989. Yours truly gave it a respectfully mixed review. Some things do not change.
