REVIEW: Symphony is spectacular on Mahler's Fifth

A performance of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5 is always a memorable event.

This monumental symphony — composed at the turn of the 20th century — is a sonic journey of epic proportions. Its five magnificent movements take more than 75 minutes to perform and leave no emotion unexplored. So even a merely competent rendition is bound to be a life-affirming experience.

The Omaha Symphony under music director Thomas Wilkins is ending its 2008-09 season with Mahler's Fifth Symphony. Its performance Friday night at the Holland Performing Arts Center was spectacular.

Everything about the rendition was strong. The strings seemed to melt in lyrical passages. The percussion gave a thunderous roar. The Omaha Symphony's fabulous horns, meanwhile, blazed like no other brass section this side of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. And every part of the orchestra blended and balanced beautifully.

Wilkins, for his part, was clearly in his element. He implicitly understood Mahler's architecture, and he clearly outlined a musical path that led from dark despair to transcendent joy.

The schizophrenic character of the opening movement was brilliantly underscored, with Wilkins emphasizing lyrical string passages as a contrast to the ominous brass. Wilkins interpreted the stormy second movement as pure cataclysm, which made the charming and rustic third-movement scherzo seem almost like a spiritual oasis.

According to my watch, Wilkins gave the downbeat for the fourth-movement Adagietto at precisely 9:42 p.m. As far as my emotions were concerned, it was still 9:42 p.m. when he concluded that movement 11 minutes later, since his lilting and deeply moving rendition seemed to all but stop time.

Wilkins and his players brought the music to a triumphant conclusion, playing the finale with warmth and unrestrained joy.

Friday's concert opened with cellist Alisa Weilerstein as the soloist in Haydn's Cello Concerto in C major. There's been a lot of buzz in the national press about Weilerstein, all of it hailing the 27-year-old cellist as the next Yo-Yo Ma.

Certainly, there was much to admire in her performance. She has a powerful bow arm, rapid-fire finger technique and an ear that hits every note dead center. She also plays with a beautiful amber tone and with amazing dynamic control — she breezed through the finale's fast perpetual-motion passages with gossamer delicacy.

But what makes Weilerstein stand out is her electric personality. Her playing is so intensely in the moment that it makes Haydn's patrician music sound downright passionate. That alone is worth the price of admission.

One other note about Friday's concert: Two of the orchestra's players, violinist Marcia Hinkle and French horn player William Sprague, both celebrated their 50th anniversaries with the Omaha Symphony. They won long-overdue ovations.

• Contact the writer: 444-1076, john.pitcher@owh.com

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