CONSIDERED OPINION OF THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA CONCERT OF 10/11/07

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 2 ("Resurrection") (Malin Hartelius, sop.; Bernarda Fink, mezzo-sop.; Cleveland Orchestra Chorus; Franz Welser-Möst, cond.)

Almost exactly a century ago, Gustav Mahler visited St. Petersburg to conduct a series of concerts. One afternoon he was buttonholed by the singer and arts patron Julia Abaza. Like most of us, Abaza feared death, and she wondered what awaited her in that undiscovered country. She had seen Mahler's Second Symphony performed the year before and felt it might offer a clue. But did she not remember the symphony's text? Mahler asked. It contained, he assured her, all the answers. Alas, there was one problem. When Madame Abaza had heard the work, she couldn't make out what the chorus was saying.

Just imagine her frustration. It's as if you sat down to watch a documentary that promised to explain life's greatest mysteries, only to have your TV speaker choose that moment to go on the fritz. But Abaza needn't have worried. I don't think even Mahler's most ardent admirers would suggest that his second Symphony really resolved doctrinal disputes over physical resurrection: the vexing issue argued by Pharisees and Sadducees, by Augustine and the Manicheans. But, theologically conclusive or not, Mahler's Second is some pretty spectacular music. And this weekend offers a valuable opportunity to hear it played by Franz Welser-Möst and the Cleveland Orchestra.

It's not a flawless realization. One sensed, Thursday evening, that parts of this "Resurrection" haven't yet solidified in their final form. A few passages needed a bit of orchestral housekeeping. In some cases the performance was rhythmically unsettled-in the fourth section of the Second Movement, for example, and roughly the middle third of the Scherzo. The latter seemed a symptom of a larger problem: a general lack of energy in the movement, which in turn reduced the contrast with the succeeding setting of "Urlicht." And at the symphony's conclusion, one wished Severance Hall's organ far more robust.

But Welser-Möst's "Resurrection" has virtues that outweigh its occasional shortcomings. The first movement's lyrical second theme is affecting without being mawkish. The bulk of the second movement, meanwhile, is marked by nicely judged tempos and just the right degree of elasticity. Soprano Malin Hartelius and mezzo-soprano Bernarda Fink made impressive contributions to last year's St. Matthew Passion, and they're both equally effective here. Fink's voice has perhaps less than the ideal specific gravity for this symphony, but her performance is so absorbing that one hesitates to complain. And the concluding section of the work, here featuring the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, is the sort of vocal extravaganza in which Welser-Mö st regularly excels.

This Mahler Second has its imperfections, some of which will doubtless be corrected in future performances. But, in the final judgment, it surely belongs with the sheep rather than the goats.

Jerome Crossley for WCLV 104/9.

Considered Opinions is WCLV's program that reviews performances by Cleveland-area music ensembles. Commentator Jerome Crossley offers an informed and witty perspective on performances by groups that include the Cleveland Orchestra, Opera Cleveland, and Red {an orchestra}. Considered Opinions typically airs at 9.45 a.m., 12.20 p.m., and 5.20 p.m. the Friday following a Cleveland Orchestra concert, and it repeats at 9.45 a.m. on Saturday. Other air-times depend on the schedule of the ensembles reviewed.

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