The well-done job of Josep Pons

The audience rose to their feet, applauding Josep Pons's final performance as musical director of the Gran Teatre del Liceu. The work chosen for the occasion could not have been more fitting, as a statement of principles: the last symphony Mahler would premiere in his lifetime, the Eighth (he still had the profound restraint of the Ninth, premiered posthumously), popularly known as the Symphony of a Thousand, which is a hymn to optimism and the return to the natural through Faustian beauty. We could debate whether it is truly a symphony or a cantata. It matters little, because Mahler's genius is showcased from beginning to end of a score that sometimes borders on excess, but never leaves one indifferent.

Over fourteen years at the helm of the Liceu Orchestra, Pons has worked extensively with an ensemble that has gained body, identity, and its own signature. Not everything has been perfect, but the performance and the work (well) done are noticeable, and how. The proof is that Mahler's Eighth, which is one of the 8,000 of this Himalayas that is the history of symphonic-choral music, has been achieved by reaching the summit with good base camps.Ara Pons has counted on forces he knows well and that for him have a special significance: to the same orchestra and the Liceu choir, the Polifònica de Puig-Reig, the National Choir of Spain and the Vivaldi-Petits Cantors de Catalunya Choir have been added.Situated very (too) far back on the stage, the choral presence did not always have the necessary balance in relation to the immense orchestra. And the truth is that the 350 people who populated the Liceu stage did not have it easy. But Pons, although he got through it with flying colors, neither did he. Powerful brass, balanced woodwinds, and blended strings characterized the orchestra's sonic richness in service of the score, and with certainly brilliant moments of contained emotion, never far-fetched. Because Pons is not a man who lets himself be carried away by the gratuitousness of certain resources and always keeps the card of restraint, even though he is generous in sonic expansions.

Mahler's piece also requires first-rate soloists to tackle challenging passages and unforgiving ranges, such as that of the tenor. Michael Spyres once again proved he is an all-rounder. So did baritone Nicholas Brownlee, alongside an authoritative bass like Albert Dohmen, although he already shows the vocal wear and tear typical of an advanced age.In the female chapter, Elisabeth Teige shone as Magna Peccatrix, despite a small accident in the final intervention. She was saved by the always efficient Jacquelyn Wagner. The mezzo-soprano who contraltos adhering to the purest Mahlerian style, the Scottish Beth Taylor was a forceful Samaritan alongside an also veteran Mihoko Fujimura, widely acclaimed at the Liceu in various Wagnerian works conducted precisely by Pons.A vocal ensemble, then, part of which had worked with the Berguedà director in previous seasons and which always left a good taste in the mouth. Like this Eighth, which certifies fourteen years of well-spent work.