Houston Symphony Orchestra– 03/15/24

At Jones Hall Friday evening, music director Juraj Valčuha led the Houston Symphony in a single work, Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 in A minor (Tragic). The program was preceded by Mahler’s Piano Quartet in A minor, performed by HSO pianist Scott Holshauser and three string principals– Yoonshin Song, Joan DerHovsepian, and Brinton Smith. Written when the composer was fifteen, the only resemblance to the following symphony was the key and a six-note descending melodic figure. It is the product of a talented composer whose expressive capabilities were not fully formed. Featuring a beautifully played high register viola solo and a short brilliantly played violin cadenza, it remains more of an historical reference than a masterwork. Given the excellent performance, it was the rare case where the playing was greater than the work being performed.

Stylistically, Mahler’s orchestral writing stands alone. His orchestration combines and contrasts instruments in order to achieve emotional tone colors, which run the gamut from biting satire to tender expressions of love. He also uses tempo changes to develop expressive ideas. It could be though of as recitative and aria writ large. Brief, episodic changes of tempo move the action. Extended steady tempos set the feeling, whether a march, a dance, or a song. Taken together, his music closely resembles how our minds actually work. At once liberating and challenging, the kaleidoscope of sounds never fails to present new possibilities. All that is required is a point of view.

The Mahler symphony was afforded a spectacular performance. Valčuha’s conception was compelling and the execution was purposeful– the complex orchestration and innumerable tempo changes were deftly negotiated. Following the magnificent performance of Bruckner’s 8th Symphony led by Christoph Eschenbach two weeks ago, the orchestra again played with emotional commitment and a unified concept, proving that health is contagious. Valčuha seemed a bit more relaxed this evening than in recent concerts, which allowed for a greater variety of expressive tone colors. Notable was an etherial passage in the first violins that followed Tchaikovskian harp arpeggios. Conversely, the Scherzo could have been a notch slower to achieve full irony.

The Sixth Symphony features solo French horn more than any other orchestral work. Solo trumpet runs a close second. William VerMeulen dispatched the countless horn solos with accuracy and beauty of tone, in all registers and through all intervals. It would be difficult to imagine finer playing. Mark Hughes was an anchor in the brass section. A model of good musical taste, his sound was pure and clearly defined at all dynamic levels and articulations.

English horn and tuba contributed fine solos. Trombones, led by a guest principal from the Philadelphia Orchestra, presented a finely tuned and toned quartet near the end. The percussion section was kept busy with dual (not duel) timpani and a 42-pound wooden hammer made and played by Brian Del Signore, which he used to strike two climactic blows (not the dreaded three) in the final movement.

The Houston Symphony is reaching and maintaining a higher level of performance than at any time since Eschenbach. He had a vision for the orchestra that was not supported by the Board. (A similar situation is currently unfolding in San Francisco with Esa-Pekka Salonen.) Valčuha is building a great orchestra in Houston. I had the privilege of talking with him after the concert, when I complimented his work with the orchestra as well as his own changes as the relationship develops. I said I thought this was a similar situation to 1950, when George Szell had taken over the Cleveland Orchestra and transformed a respected ensemble into a world-class orchestra. He thanked me, and complimented the orchestra’s willingness to work hard. When goals align, great things can happen. Now is the time.