This was the first time Levine had ever conducted the two middle movements in the order Mahler himself settled on: Andante, Scherzo. A controversy exists because in Mahler’s first published score, the calm Andante comes after the nasty Scherzo — and that’s what you hear on most recordings. On Saturday, Levine did it that way. Both versions have their fervent advocates, though to me the transition from the relentless energy of the opening to the ecstatic stasis of the Andante is one of Mahler’s most moving passages, and this more equally weighted order is closer to the classical model of Haydn and Mozart. The second performance was more polished, maybe even louder, though not quite as convincing. For the last concert, on Tuesday, Levine was to choose the order he preferred. Stay tuned.
Related:
John Harbison plus 10, Stopping time, Contertizing, More 
- John Harbison plus 10
Classical music in Boston is so rich, having to pick 10 special events for this winter preview is more like one-tenth of the performances I'm actually looking forward to.
- Stopping time
BSO music director James Levine has returned to Symphony Hall for the first time since October, when back surgery put him out of commission.
- Contertizing
Boston Lyric Opera follows up Dvorák’s moonstruck Rusalka, with Christopher Schaldebrand in the title role of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, the BSO and much more.
- Stuff at night
This week’s health headlines also included the announcement from the Boston Symphony Orchestra that music director James Levine has been sidelined again, from the “excruciating pain” he’s been suffering since his surgery for a herniated disc.
- All you need is love
Outpourings of love have been flooding the Boston musical scene.
- Feeding frenzy
The media rain on James Levine's parade, plus Boston Midsummer Opera
- Fall Classical Preview: The power of music
Here’s my Top 10 list, in chronological order, of some of the season’s most appealing and important classical music events: symphonies, chamber music, operas.
- James Levine: He's back!
Boston and New York have at least one thing in common. Both have missed James Levine, music director of two of the world's most renowned classical-music institutions.
- Levine on disc
40 years at the Met, Mozart at the BSO
- Review: James Levine with the Met and the BSO
Sighs of relief at Symphony Hall, from patrons and management alike: James Levine, music director of both the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera, had completed a doubleheader.
- Phenomenal!
Living for a century is still a milestone; for a great and still-productive artist to do so is virtually unheard of.
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Topics:
Classical
, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, James Levine, Andre Previn, More
, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, James Levine, Andre Previn, Artur Schnabel, Bruce Hall, Stravinsky, Gillian Keith, James Levine, John Ferrillo, Jordan Hall, Less
