There comes a moment near the end of Gustav Mahler's First Symphony when the double-sized row of french horn players is instructed to stand up for the remainder of the performance, the better to blast their exhilarating final tones over the rest of the oversized orchestra. In Sunday afternoon's performance by the Missoula Symphony Orchestra, one couldn't help but get the sense that the gesture served as an early, and well-deserved, curtain call. Indeed, it wouldn't have seemed inappropriate for the entire orchestra to stand at that moment. As grand finales go, this season-ender was one to remember. There isn't anymore triumphal music in the orchestral repertoire than the symphonies of Mahler. And, judging by the roaring audience response to the concert, it's easy to call Sunday's performance a triumph in every way.

The concert began with a spry performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's overture to “The Marriage of Figaro.” For the concert, the MSO string section was reorganized, with basses and cellos to the left, behind the first violins, and second violins situated to the right - a practical consequence of the Mahler symphony, which calls for such a large orchestra that players had to be crammed into the stage wherever space could be found. This resulted in an unusually blended string sound that lent a warm, round tone to Mozart's light, dancing music. But the untraditional sound didn't detract from the playful spirit at the heart of Mozart's overture; in fact, it served to emphasize the way Mozart's melodies bounce from instrument to instrument.

The second work on the concert was Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E Minor, one of the most oft-played concertos in the repertoire. For anyone familiar with classical music, another performance of Mendelssohn's featherweight concerto might have passed without much notice, were it not for the performance of 26-year-old violin soloist Karen Gomyo. Dressed in a formal yet modern floor-length black evening gown, with her hair pulled back tightly, Gomyo cut a cool figure on the University Theatre stage, barely smiling as she was greeted by the audience. But when she began to play, Gomyo immediately exposed not only a dazzling technical skill, but also a warm affection for the music. Her first-movement cadenza was breathtaking, from the spellbindingly rapt moments of stillness to the technically astonishing arpeggios that brought it to a close. Throughout the performance, she offered both insight and virtuoso technique; indeed, I've heard recordings of world-renowned soloists that were less sure-footed and revelatory. Hers was certainly the finest solo performance the MSO has featured in years, and Sunday's audience responded with prolonged and heartfelt applause.

Mahler's First Symphony isn't just long. With its unusually large instrumental forces, epic structure, strange instructions to players, and difficult part-writing, it is a piece of music that cannot be taken lightly by performers or audiences alike (the subtitle, “Titan,” is most apt). Love him or leave him, Mahler will make your blood rush, presuming his music is performed well. But performing it well isn't easy. In the week leading up to this weekend's concerts, I received e-mails from two different musicians in the orchestra, in which both described the challenges that stood before them.nn“Frighteningly difficult music is the Mahler,” wrote one violist. “Double-black-diamond page after page. In rehearsal over certain 4th-movement chromatic passages, Darko (Butorac, the MSO's conductor) shouts to us ... ‘More evil! Eviler!' And sometimes as a gesture Darko stabs himself in the heart.” If that's true, Butorac's heart - and that of his players - bled resplendent red on Sunday as Mahler's music poured forth. The performance wasn't perfect. The many soft and ethereal passages in Mahler's music (particularly the opening of the first movement) suffered from fairly serious tuning problems - the devil in the details of Mahler's challenging music. But unlike in some past concerts, the orchestra's intonation struggles weren't paired with errors of articulation or overarching shape of the musical gestures. Throughout the piece, the orchestra played with a deep concentration that more than wiped away those problems.

One challenge in particular that seems to vex orchestras inexperienced with Mahler's music is the issue of restraint. It's just too easy to play Mahler loudly and excitedly, with no pause for breath or quiet meditation on his endlessly inventive melodies. In this respect in particular, Butorac and his forces mastered this music, providing many moments of hushed concentration to balance the symphony's explosive climaxes. But when the explosive climaxes came, they came with a force not before heard from this orchestra. That moment when the horns stood up? Exciting as it was, I have to give credit where due: to the string players, who by then were burning horse hair as they more than held up against the clarion calls of the horns, the double timpani, the crashing cymbals and the heavy breathing of the audience, who practically lept to their feet when the final note finally came. On that most beautiful Sunday afternoon of this blossoming year, it was the kind of concert that more than justified sitting still in the stiflingly hot - nay, inexcusably hot - University Theatre. In fact, I'd say the sun shone most brightly in there on this fine afternoon.

http://missoulian.com/articles/2008/05/05/news/local/news04.txt