Review: KSO Delivers a Memorable “Mozart and Mahler”

Mah•ler•i•an
noun –  an admirer of the Austrian composer and conductor Gustav Mahler, or his work

In a preface to the orchestra’s performance of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 (“Titan”) this weekend, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra maestro Aram Demirjian asked the audience for a show of hands of who considered themselves to be a lover of the music of Mahler. Some hands shot into the air enthusiastically, while others wavered and appeared a bit more tentative. Despite the obvious informality of such a poll, it was at that moment that I realized that maybe “Mahlerian” really is a thing that involves pride in membership—or trepidation among those not sure about joining up.

For the maestro, his apprehension was perhaps understandable. Successful Mahler performances require a focus, plan, and strong point of view from conductors. In addition, all of the Mahler symphonies have heavy instrumental requirements in woodwinds, brass, and percussion, forcing orchestras to consider the extra costs and logistics. And, this would be the KSO’s first foray into a complete Mahler symphony in the Demirjian era—the last being the Mahler Second Symphony in 2012. On the other hand, the Mahler One is the composer’s least esoteric and most accessible symphony, given his later reputation for journeys into an often complex and sprawling territory of tone and texture.

As it turned out, Demirjian and the orchestra as well as the audience, had nothing to fear and everything to rejoice about. This stunningly articulate performance of the “Titan” clearly won over any potential skeptics with its strong point of view in which the expansiveness was modulated with thematic intrigues and clever punctuations in texture, cadence, and dynamics. The symphony’s themes, drawn in large part from folk songs and the composer’s own “Songs of a Wayfarer”, are also responsible for the work’s accessibility, keeping the work tethered to earth and gently, but firmly, guiding the listener.

Assisting Demirjian in the delivery of this Mahlerian masterpiece were some superb individual and ensemble performances in the expanded ranks of the orchestra. The delightfully melancholy round that is “Frère Jacques” , but turned to a mournful minor, was begun by double bassist Dan Thompson, then carried on by the ensemble. The expanded section of seven horns, led by principal horn Jeffery Whaley, had a big and impressive evening that included euphoric “whoops” as well as beautiful and powerful ensemble playing. The four trumpets (principal Phillip Chase Hawkins) provided a perfectly balanced offstage passage in the first movement. Also contributing to this strong showing were interim principal flute Jessica Petrasek, interim principal bassoon Jessica Findley Yang, principal clarinet Gary Sperl, and principal oboe Claire Chenette. Concertmaster William Shaub and associate Gordon Tsai led a violin section that was called upon for both silky ensemble playing and percussiveness.

While the audience left the Tennessee Theatre consumed by the Mahler performance, the evening’s feast was begun by young pianist Aristo Sham who joined Demirjian and the orchestra for Mozart’s flowing stream-like Piano Concerto No. 23 in A, K. 488. Mozart’s concertos deceptively require both control and clarity from their pianists, characteristics that Sham possessed and displayed with an unostentatious mastery.

While Sham’s body language did not betray underlying emotions, his checkerboard socks against black attire were perhaps a visual hint to the pianist’s intriguing musical personality. His playing bubbled with energy, revealing a remarkably finessed point of view in which the articulation of passages was decisive, as well as natural and clean. The piano opens the adagio movement with a soft melancholy that Sham rendered with a beautiful deliberation and clarity. The contrasting finale movement, Allegro assai, was a cheerful conversational balance between the babbling-brook ebullience from Sham’s piano and happy support from Demirjian and the orchestra.