Mahler's 2nd

This weekend was an exciting one for several reasons, not the least of which being my first full weekend back in the big city! About two months ago, Mr. Higgins and I bought tickets to see one of my favorite symphonies, Mahler's 2nd "Resurrection" symphony, on Saturday. The date fell very close to our four month anniversary so we used this outing to celebrate.

Mahler's 2nd means a lot to me. It was the first piece I sang with a "real" chorus back in college and it was the first time I sang with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra at the spectacular Bass Hall. For five years, I've been dying to see it performed again! I would have preferred seeing it with the FWSO at Bass, but I settled for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Meyerson.

The performance was, without a doubt, breathtakingly superb. I've never seen such attention to detail by a conductor. Jaap van Zweden was meticulous in handling this huge orchestra. The chorus sang without sheet music and were very good. Not perfect, but definitely above average.

But I missed Miguel and the FWSO. Jaap van Zweden lacked the warmth and charisma that Miguel infuses Bass Hall with in every performance. I've sung under the baton of Miguel Harth-Bedoya and he's truly a pleasure to work with and for. Jaap conveys....pompousness. Indeed, the performance by the DSO was one of gloating. The DSO knows it's good, Jaap knows he's good, and they seemed intent on proving it. Even the chorus showed pomp when they made an unnecessary dramatic entrance. (Someone should tell them that their consonants were weak throughout. I've sung this piece and had to strain to understand them. German or no, diction is necessary.)

I'll concede that it made for a wonderful concert...but I'll stick with the FWSO. I grew up in the suburbs of Dallas but this is one area where I can see just how much the cities differ.