Symphony No 2 (Resurrection) - Mahler
It's nearly 10 years since RTE last presented Mahler's magnificent Resurrec- tion symphony so the work was a fitting choice for the opening of the NSO's 50th anniversary season at the NCH last night.
The performance was graced by an unusually gentle - and for that reason all the more touching - approach by mezzo soprano Alison Browner to the Urlicht (Primal Light) fourth movement, the calm before the eruption of the finale.
Singing of such fine-spun reserve and painstaking response to the composer's specified dynamic shading (rare indeed, this) tended to exaggerate the comparative lack of focus and looseness of shape from the readily powerful soprano of Rosalind Sutherland in the finale.
The members of the RTE Philharmonic Choir, however, were in the best form I've heard them for years as the saintly voices of the finale. Tonally and intonationally, they sounded like a significantly revitalised body.
Such sensitivity, however, was not frequently on display from the conductor, Kasper de Roo. He showed himself wilful in his response to dynamics, rarely allowing much that was below mezzo forte, and, unfortunately, letting the loudest instruments obliterate the rest at climaxes.
He was also far from convincing in manoeuvring through Mahler's demanding manipulations of tempo - the first movement in particular lacked those long-spanned lines of tension which can make it such a powerfully gripping experience.
And the orchestra's playing was much rougher in detail of ensemble and intonation than has become the norm in recent years.
It is particularly sad at the opening of the 50th season to have to witness the orchestra's achievement dropping in quality under the direction of the principal conductor.
That said, with the fine vocal contributions and rich orchestral spectacle of the finale fresh in mind, the audience gave the performance a most enthusiastic welcome.
