The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Musical Director Arild Remmereit, spared no expense last
night to pack the stage of Kodak Hall to perform Mahler’s Fifth Symphony. By my count there were 26 violins, nine violas, eight cellos, eight bass, harp, seven
French horns, four trumpets, three trombones, one tuba, six oboes, three
clarinets, four flutes, and five percussionists. The Mahler, particularly in
contrast to the pairing to the smaller, lighter Grieg Piano Concerto,
demonstrated the extreme range of dynamics available from the RPO.

The Mahler was every bit as dark and heavy as the composer
is known to be. The program notes include a quote from
Mahler (who was born in Bohemia in 1860) to a friend about the symphony, including the statement, “Neither
romantic nor mystical elements belong in it, it’s
merely the expression of unparalleled power, that of a man in the full light of
day who has reached the climax of his life.” A funny description for a piece
more than an hour in length, considering that the first two movements feel
sufficiently tortured to leave one praying for the brief flashes of major keys
and simple resolutions.

The highlight of Thursday’s Mahler performance was the fourth
movement. Marked “Adagietto, sehr langsam” (program-noted as “very slowly”),
these notes could have been written expressly for the RPO. I have previously
said that the string section of the RPO is the finest there is, and, through this
movement, the strings caressed every note as if it were their last. By the time
the RPO reached the final two notes of the movement, I wanted nothing more than
30 seconds of silence in which to fully appreciate the beauty of the finish.

While the Mahler was the big work of the night, my own
tastes favored the Grieg with guest artist Jon Nakamatsu at the piano. Nakamatsu’s rendition of Grieg’s cadenza in the first movement
was positively brilliant, as clean and clear as this Norwegian composer’s style
requires. The third movement showcased Nakamatsu’s personality and, as
technically challenging as the piece becomes, brought smile after smile to
Nakamatsu’s face. When as seasoned a performer as Nakamatsu can surrender
himself to the music without having to think about it, he gives the audience a
whole new depth of understanding of the work.

However, I do have two remarks about the performance. First
— and I’ve said this before relative to other pianists — mezzo-piano to piano
passages tend to lose the left hand in the keyboard somewhere around middle C,
descending approximately two octaves. Acoustics where I sit in the upper left
balcony? Temperament of the piano? Something
to be conscious of, because it can leave the right hand sounding unsupported.

Also, throughout the first movement, with every character
change, there was a split-second rushing, as if the final beat of the prior
measure was short-changed by perhaps as little as a sixteenth. The oddity about
this recurrence was my question whether the opening tempo hadn’t dragged just a
touch, as compared to how the movement developed and ended, once the pianist
and orchestra had melded themselves into a single, working team.

Once again, an excellent program that is a credit to the
musicians of our RPO.

Don’t forget that if you’re looking for an earlier-in-the-day,
lighter version of things, you can hear Remmereit, Nakamatsu, and several musicians
of the RPO at Hochstein School of Music and Dance on Sunday, October 21, at 2 p.m.
Tickets available through the RPO website or at the door.

The RPO repeats the program Saturday, October 20, at 8 p.m.
at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, 60
Gibbs St. Tickets cost $19-$92. For more information visit the website or call
454-2100.

This article appears in Best of Rochester 2012.