Review: A Triumph of Musical Will as San Diego Symphony Performs Mahler's Third

Review: A triumph of musical will as San Diego Symphony performs Mahler's Third

Rafael Payare conducting the San Diego Symphony. (File photo courtesy of the symphony) Earlier this month in Glasgow, Scotland, I heard the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra performing Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, whose initial falling motive in G minor, known the world over, is termed the “fate theme,” its urgency suffusing the entire work. The program writers billed the Fifth as “a pulse-pounding struggle between hope and despair.” For me, the …

Mahler’s 4th Symphony by Residentie Orkest under Jun Märkl at Amare in The Hague

I had chosen this concert above all for Jun Märkl. After reading his biography and discovering that he had studied under both Sergiu Celibidache and Leonard Bernstein — two conductors I deeply admire — my expectations were high. They were not only met, but quietly surpassed.