The Toronto Symphony Orchestra performs Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, led by amateur conductor Mandle Cheung.Allan Cabral/Supplied
On Wednesday, a full house of 2,500 eager patrons shared in the dream of Mandle Cheung, as the 77-year-old amateur conductor took to the podium at Roy Thomson Hall leading the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in their performance of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C Minor.
Cheung is a successful tech entrepreneur who paid an undisclosed fee for the privilege of leading the TSO, soloists and the Amadeus Choir through this 85-minute-long piece. The applause was genuine at the radiant conclusion to Mahler’s 1895 epic of death and rebirth. I saw Cheung breathe a big sigh when he was done: relieved, happy that he had brought off this extravaganza, and looking fit and strong at the end.
We may wonder: What does a conductor really do? If the job is more than just waving one’s arms during the performance, and involves some kind of leadership and interpretation, surely that requires a relationship with the players and singers. There are all sorts of parallels between what Cheung did building his tech fortune and what a music director does – assembling a team, learning their strengths and weaknesses, and finding a leadership style that works.
Gustavo Gimeno has been leading the TSO for five seasons, but sometimes professional guest conductors take over for a few days. This reversed the usual pattern. Instead of the TSO finding a guest-star conductor, Cheung hired the TSO, the choir and soloists.
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Nearly four decades ago, businessman Gilbert Kaplan did something similar with this same Mahler symphony. The liner notes for his 1988 recording with the London Symphony Orchestra detail Mahler’s struggles to complete this huge work between 1888 and 1894: We read about Mahler playing the piano reduction of the first movement for his hero Hans von Bülow. Not only did the elder listener cover his ears during loud passages, but he was quoted as having said, “If that is still music, I don’t understand a single thing about music.”
I was moved by parallels between the composer and the conductor during the concert, especially in the fourth movement when Mahler used one of the songs he had written based on Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Youth’s Magic Horn):
Da kam ein Engelein und wollt’ mich abweisen. (An angel came and sought to turn me back)
Ach nein, ich ließ mich nicht abweisen! (Ah no! I refused to be turned away)
Both Cheung and Mahler may have asked: Will they listen to me, or reject me? While the third movement is a comical burlesque about being ignored, this solemn song is a brave affirmation, in the face of the officious angel blocking the way.
I don’t think I’ve ever sat in a concert with so many tears flooding down my face. The successful completion of Cheung’s ordeal is news.
I sat close to the stage, wanting to see the players up close, having heard rumours of dissent and resistance. But I only saw a professional group of virtuosos playing brilliantly. Whatever you might say about Cheung, he knew what he wanted, and put his stamp on the evening. Sometimes he had a powerful beat; other times it felt as though he was following the orchestra, who seemed to listen to one another so well that they were always playing together, regardless of the abrupt tempo changes in Cheung’s interpretation.
Cheung complied with Mahler’s requested pause of five minutes after the first movement, leaving the stage, while letting the Amadeus Choir file into the choir loft at the back, then returning accompanied by the two soloists, Mireille Lebel and Kirsten LeBlanc. It’s the first time I’ve seen someone observe Mahler’s request.
I’m not sure if what I heard was entirely Cheung’s interpretation, as there were times that the orchestra seemed to take over, going so fast that I wondered whether Cheung was more like a rider trying to stay on his horse rather than the controlling force behind the piece. For the most part, we had a beautiful experience because the TSO played so brilliantly. And the Amadeus Choir, prepared by their artistic director, Kathleen Allan, sounded glorious.
But again, I was most powerfully moved during the fourth movement, Urlicht, struck by the parallel between the rumours of resistance to Cheung leading the TSO and the angel blocking the path in the song. But he would not be denied.
This symphony concerns unconditional acceptance, that we are all going to heaven regardless of those who might want to bar our entry. The concert was a superb affirmation of that ideal.
