Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Michael Tilson Thomas leads the NY PHILHARMONIC in a pronounced, nuanced rendition of Mahler’s mighty Fifth

• By drediman
• September 14, 2024
• No Comments

This week, the New York Philharmonic launched headlong into its New York fall season at David Geffen Hall with a sturdy, terrifically contrasting program comprised of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 14 and Mahler’s mighty Fifth Symphony. The concert was led by maestro Michael Tilson Thomas, the Music Director Laureate of the San Francisco Symphony and the Conductor Laureate of the London Symphony Orchestra. Despite his frail appearance on the podium — the well-credentialed conductor has been battling with glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive form of brain cancer — Thomas spearheaded a truly distinguished performance.

The concert commenced with a lovely rendition of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 14 featuring the great Emanuel Ax, a beloved pianist and a frequent guest artist with the Philharmonic. Ax approached the piece with a light but forthright touch, which walked the line between subtlety and pastoral appeal. The orchestra responded with a similarly delicate touch and buoyant phrasing. With its seemingly laidback qualities, the concerto isn’t the showiest of pieces, happily yielding to a magnificent sense of symbiosis between soloist and orchestra. Indeed, between Thomas and Ax, we were in good hands.

Then came the tangled journey that is Mahler’s Fifth, which was quite the departure from the Mozart concerto. Under Thomas’s steady and firm conducting, the orchestra produced some pronounced and nuanced playing without veering into outright bombast (the Adagietto registered perfectly, sans any forced sentimentality). Throughout, the strings were rich and forceful and the brass section played with wonderful modulation. The Philharmonic has had an illustrious and well-documented history with Mahler, and yesterday’s characterful and confident performance of the sprawling and often unruly Fifth continued that tradition.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC
Classical Music
David Geffen Hall
2 hours (with one intermission)
Through September 15