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A night with the orchestra
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Last night, I had the pleasure of attending the premiere of The Florida Orchestra's newest entry into the Masterworks program. The orchestra's performance of Mahler's Symphony #3 premiered Friday, October 23, 2009 at Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. Encore performances are scheduled for Saturday, October 24th at Progress Energy Center for the Arts Mahaffey Theater, and Sunday, October 25th at Ruth Eckerd Hall.
According to the program notes provided at: http://www.floridaorchestra.org/event_info.asp?id=17,the symphony, completed by Austrian composer Gustav Mahler in 1896, following years of work, features two parts, made up of six movements. With its lengthy first part, followed by a series of shorter movements in the second part, the piece is Mahler's longest work. In a letter to soprano Anna Bahr-Mildenburg, Mahler described Symphony #3 as "a work of such scope that the whole world actually is reflected in it," according to the program notes.
Now, conductor Stefan Sanderling and The Florida Orchestra has honored Mahler with a lovely performance of the symphony. In addition to the impressive instrumentals of the orchestra, mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer, Women's Chorus of The Master Chorale of Tampa Bay, and Tampa Bay Children's Chorus lent their voices to the fifth movement of the symphony.
The skills on display were exceptional, particularly the vast arrangement of strings. Sanderling received a sweat-inducing workout as conductor of the lengthy piece. If I had any complaints, it was the slightly awkward entrance of the very large group of singers on the stage after part one. The singers were a vital part of the performance, however there entrance could have been more smoothly executed.
However, as I learned at my very first orchestra performance, one of the most intriguing things about a symphony is its ability to spark a conversation. Not all symphonies are created for everyone. Vincent, the guest who attended the performance with me, felt the piece was monotonous. He said he would've preferred a brass symphony rather than strings (though neither of these qualities is at the fault of Sanderling or The Florida Orchestra). He also believed said there were moments where notes sounded a little off.
To my less trained ears, the music sounded beautiful. But, at least the performance was a conversation starter.
Overall, this was a classy evening at the theater. For more information,visit http://www.floridaorchestra.org/
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