The main orchestra concert of MahlerFest XXXII opens with a performance of Beethoven’s ‘Leonore” Overture No. 3 incorporating Mahler’s ‘Retuschen”. Here’s a fascinating essay from David Pickett, who has edited the new Critical Edition of Mahlers Retuschen of Beethoven. Learn more about Pickett’s Mahler research on his website here.
Beethoven: Overture Leonore No. 3, op. 72a (with Mahler’s Retuschen)
Beethoven wrote his Third Leonore Overture in 1806 for the second version of his opera, then called Leonore. Itself a masterly reworking of the Second Leonore Overture, it takes its themes from the opera, particularly from the aria that Florestan sings in his prison cell. This makes an appearance (in its original dark tonality of A-flat major) after the short foreboding introduction and then later with many ingenious variations — particularly of the first three notes (mi, re, do). The climax of the development section is interrupted by the trumpet calls that announce the arrival of the government minister at the climax of the opera, together with a simple statement of the music that accompanies the different reactions of the four protagonists, leading gradually via the joyful flute and bassoon duet to what is formally called the recapitulation, in which we hear Florestan’s aria again, now in C major and preparing the overture’s exciting conclusion. Towards the end we hear one of the very rare occurrences in Beethoven of the fff dynamic — there are only six in his entire oeuvre. The others are in the Second Leonore Overture, Namensfeier Overture, op. 115, the first movement of the Eighth Symphony (twice) and at the end of the Seventh Symphony. Beethoven instrumented the Third Leonore Overture for strings, two each of flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones and timpani.
Mahler conducted Leonore No. 3 in concert 18 times — in fifth place after the preludes to Tristan and Die Meistersinger, his Bach Suite, and Siegfried Idyll. More importantly, he also incorporated the overture in his performances of Fidelio in Hamburg, Vienna and New York. He was not the first to do this, though in Vienna it had previously been customary to play it as a prelude to the Second Act. As he already had done in Hamburg, Mahler placed it before the final scene, where it recapitulates the story and gives time for the scene change from the prison dungeon to the court yard — probably also helpfully covering up some on-stage noise! This custom has been followed by others, including Klemperer in his famous production at Covent Garden in the 1960s.
Mahler’s score has disappeared, but his orchestral performance materials still exist and give us all the information we need in order to know what he did. They date from 1900 or 1904 and contain clear indications of their use in the Vienna Court Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, New York, and in concerts. They comprise a full set of string parts for up to 18 first violins and the rest in proportion, together with two sets of wind parts. The second wind set is very carefully and selectively marked for the participation of Mahler’s eight doubling woodwind players — in some places only involving a single climactic note in the phrase. Printed in the original parts were the letters A to K as orientation marks for rehearsal, and Mahler had a further 36 numbers added to save time in his rehearsals with the New York Philharmonic.
As with all of his interventions in his retouching of Beethoven, Mahler’s changes are subtle. Many of them are difficult to detect individually by ear, even for those who know the originals intimately. The effect, however, is to make Beethoven’s music sound more clearly when played by large orchestras in reverberant surroundings such as the Grosser Musikvereinsaal in Vienna. To achieve this, he extended the range of the dynamic nuances and clarified the melodic phrasing (particularly in the cantabile passages), determining with the help of his Viennese concertmaster, Arnold Rosé, bowings that would promote clear articulation. He also extended the dynamic and timbral range by occasionally reducing the number of strings to half the size of his full string sections, which were 17-17-11-10-10 in Vienna and 16-14-12-10-8 in New York. The most noticeable places where he does this are at the beginning of the main Allegro, gradually adding players by desk until the whole body of strings is in action. It is reported, not always approvingly, that, in addition to enhancing this crescendo, Mahler also began the Allegro under tempo and made a gradual accelerando. A similar reduction of string desks is used during the transition to the final Presto section, and in this Mahler was following the practice of Hans von Bülow. Other reductions will be noticed elsewhere in pianissimo passages. On the contrary, Beethoven’s angry interjections of the cellos and basses in the development section are made even more dramatic by Mahler’s addition of the violas and four bassoons. Mahler also sometimes raises the notes of the second violins an octave, putting them in unison with the first violins for a more brilliant effect.
Beethoven used two pairs of natural horns, one pair pitched in C and one in E, and employed whichever pair could play the notes in the context of the prevailing tonality, and after the trumpet calls mentioned above, he directs the E horns to change their crooks to C, so that they can join in with the first pair. Mahler extended the participation of the French horns in tonal regions in which Beethoven was unable to use them on account of their limited range of available notes. Having the advantage of valved horns, he often added extra notes to one or other of the pairs that was unemployed in a passage by Beethoven, with either the same notes as the other pair, or parts that reinforce the bassoons.
Mahler’s overall timing for the overture was about 13 minutes, which is not unusual today and it would therefore appear that, apart from the accelerando mentioned, his tempi were what we are used to. Regarding the appearance of the dramatic offstage trumpet calls in the middle of the overture, Theodor Spiering, Mahler’s concertmaster, tells us that Mahler said in rehearsal with the New York Philharmonic: “In the barracks one makes no nuances”, adding himself that the second call was to be no louder than the first because both times the trumpeter is standing on the same spot, on the tower, and consequently they must both times be heard equally loudly.
It is common to claim that Mahler’s inclusion of this overture in the opera was a mistake; but in the experience of this author that is a misguided opinion, held largely by non performers and audience members whose over-riding concern is to get home early. Apart from its practical value mentioned above, the overture itself gains immensely by Mahler’s placing of it: the preceding drama of the opera has wound the orchestra up to a tension that finds its fulfilment in the overture, which in no way detracts from the glories of the final scene and, as Klemperer convincingly claimed, the inclusion of the overture after the dramatic rescue of Florestan emphasizes the universal significance of the opera.
- Copyright © 2019 David Pickett
