This past Friday evening my wife and me we able to take in a wonderful Mahler 5 with the New York Philharmonic in Ann Arbor, Michigan at Hill Auditorium. The auditorium has pretty good acoustics, if a little warm and perhaps a tad too small to hold the power of the Philharmonic. Overall, it was a nice auditory experience. Much better than my local DeVos Hall in Grand Rapids.
The concert itself, while not showcasing any new ideas or interpretation, was quite good nonetheless. The Philharmonic seemed fully committed and really tore into the work with much gusto. They went after it, so to speak. The first section was well played and conceived by von Zweden; he didn't get in the way of the music and let the player do their thing. His Scherzo was a bit too quick for my tastes, a little breadth works well. I would guess that it clocked around 15-16 minutes. The love letter was in under 9 minutes and was quite effective. Jap really knocked the Finale out of the park on this one. He, and the orchestra were down to really give this final movement what it deserves, while many others seem to short change this movement. It was buoyant, filled with life and brightness. A great finish to a nice concert going evening.
