Donald Runnicles took the stage Saturday evening at Symphony Corridor to safe his heritage at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. This performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. five and excerpts Alban Berg’s “Wozzeck” came in one-night-only fashion, after Wednesday’s shooting in Midtown led to a lockdown at Woodruff Arts Middle and a canceled rehearsal. (The ticketed Thursday performance turned into a dress rehearsal.) Runnicles began his tenure in Atlanta with former music director Robert Spano in two thousand-first, and the principal visitor conductor has keep an permanent stamp on the orchestra and ASO chorus. His tag in Atlanta might be most immediately felt with Mahler; the conductor teamed up with Spano to carry out a complete cycle of the ten Mahler symphonies.
Runnicles memorably led the ASO in Symphony No. two in two thousand-twelfth, when it was reported that a likely farewell was keep to an finish by a late contract extension. This time, the departure is final. (Mahler’s symphonies also soundtracked Spano’s departure last June.) The latest time Runnicles brought Mahler five to the ASO, in two thousand-fifteenth, he also paired the work with vocals: Kelley O’Connor, who's appeared frequently in Atlanta with Runnicles throughout the years, performed the composer’s “Ruckert Lieder.” For the first half of Saturday’s concert, Runnicles brought another singer — a relative unknown to Atlanta audiences. Mezzo-soprano Irene Roberts is also new to singing Berg, music that Runnicles admitted was “not easy listening” during an erudite concert preamble.
Thursday’s dress rehearsal may have done some excellent beca Roberts sounded like she’d been singing repertoire love this all her career. Across two excerpts — Act one, scenes two and three, Act three, scene one — Roberts’ focd voice rang out true and clear despite dizzying jumps and leaps throughout her register. Orchestra and singer performed as one, gelling brilliantly despite the brief rehearsal time. The third snippet, the closing scenes of Act three, started with a liquid glissando in the strings, echoed by a chromatic ascension in the horns, expertly conveying the unease and foreboding that characterize much of the work. Here, Roberts mimicked a quizzical child, bringing tenderness and innocence into a voice that'd just been shaded by sorrow. I see forward to hearing her following appearance with the orchestra; it can’t arrive soon enough. Mahler’s fifth begins with martial trumpet blasts, a brief rhythmic figure that forms the foundation for the first portion of the work.
Acting principal trumpet Michael Tiscione, who's been with the ASO nearly as long as Runnicles, infd these opening solo trumpet notes with a propulsive quality that carried the musicians through the momentous 72-minute performance. Mahler’s work requires an enlarged orchestra, and Runnicles had both the regular ASO musicians and assorted temporary performers in peak performance mode. Standouts? The horn portion has continually impressed this season, and on Saturday, the musicians sounded exquisite. The string portion has long been a high point for the ASO, so my expectations for the well-known fourth movement, when the orchestra is reduced to strings and harp for an introspective sonic like letter, were high. The emotive Adagietto shined. Mahler’s symphony ends with a triumphant whoop that amasses the sheer power of the enlarged orchestra.
Cheers the audience — for the performance, but mostly to recognize Runnicles’ departure — were tremendous and plentiful. After seemingly half-a-dozen curtain calls, Runnicles jokingly dragged concertmaster David Coucheron and associate concertmaster Justin Bruns offstage, putting an finish to the celebration and an emphatic exclamation point on his tenure at the ASO.
