By Kathryn Olsen
It has been months since a full orchestra has performed at Salt Lake City’s Abravanel Hall but this weekend, the Utah Symphony reunites the ensemble in a fantastic program as Marc Albrecht Conducts Mahler and R. Strauss. The ensemble has been performing and recording in recent months, but these concerts mark a return to performing before a live audience. While the audience is still limited, the performance features 50 minutes of music, and each piece features specific performers at socially distanced intervals on the stage, it is a joy to see the Symphony reunite for these 2021 concerts.
The program opens with the well-beloved Adagietto finale of Gustav Mahler’s 1902 Symphony No. 5. Composed at a time in which the Austro-Bohemian composer was working primarily as a conductor, this is the only of his symphonies to be entirely instrumental. Even more unusually, the last movement is a serene and meditative conversation between the string instrumentalists that begins as a single note accompanied by a harp arpeggio and builds through counter-melodies to both a soaring climax for the violins and a descending line of resolution in the lower strings that draw the orchestra back into contemplation. It is a piece that Leonard Bernstein chose to conduct as a tribute to a mentor and therefore is commonly associated with memorial, but that is only one perspective for it. Audiences may hear life or death, love or longing in the notes or find themselves responding to something entirely different. The rise and fall of each passage is explored with great subtlety in these performances.
Albrecht, who is well-known as a conductor of opera and concert works alike, is celebrated as an artist who works to make a larger ensemble’s performance feel more intimate. This is particularly true in his Utah Symphony debut. In the Adagietto, his conducting style is fluid and expansive. The musicians are given tempo and phrasing directions with his gestures, but his style encourages the conversation of the melodic lines while not intrung on the discourse.
In order to ensure the audience’s well-being, masks and social distancing are required. Patrons may complete the health screening in advance or can be interviewed by staff upon entering the building.
There are two remaining concerts and seating is limited, but there is still time to purchase tickets for an unforgettable evening in the hall that is home to this wonderful ensemble. Audiences of all ages will enjoy hearing Abravanel Hall fill once more with marvelous music.
Utah Symphony Presents Marc Albrecht Conducts Mahler and R. Strauss
Abravanel Hall, 123 W S Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84101
Mar 25-26, 2021, 7:30 PM. Mar 27, 2021, 5:30 PM
Tickets: $10-92
www.usuo.org
Contact: 801-533-5626
Utah Symphony Facebook Page
0 Comments