Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 3, 1990                   TAG: 9004030331
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SETH WILLIAMSON SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SYMPHONY'S

Bond chose what was probably her most substantial program this year with the Symphony No. 4 in G major of Gustav Mahler and the Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98, by Johannes Brahms. It also contained one of the RSO's best efforts to date.

That came in the Mahler, which was the first item on the program, and which also featured guest soprano Diana Walker in the final movement. To my ears, this Mahler Fourth rivaled the pristine reading of the Schubert Fifth on a recent Sunday chamber series concert.

Sometimes called the "sleigh bells" symphony for Mahler's idiosyncratic use of jingle bells in the first movement, this piece featured transparently clear playing from the winds, particularly during the first movement. This symphony is one of the two best introductions to Mahler for neophytes (the other being the Symphony No. 1), and it is especially attractive for Mahler's mastery of vivid orchestral color. The RSO's first-chair wind players beautifully realized the composer's palette of timbres and sonorities, with especially lovely contributions from horn, clarinet, oboe, bassoon and flute.

The symphony also features a positively un-Mahlerian brass section, with no tubas and trombones and a trumpet section that lays out for such long periods that they could send out for pizza while waiting to play.

This Mahler was not an artifact of icy perfection. There were a few clams and missed notes in each movement, but the final effect was still warmly human. Best of all, there was a sense of shape, of connectedness, that strengthened as the work's architecture gradually revealed itself. Bond and her players were especially good at evoking the second movement's mood of peasant jollity, and concertmaster James Glazebrook's solos were short but lovely.

Though principal double-bassist William Johnston is still out with an injury to his bowing arm, the double-bass section comprised a mini-orchestra of seven players. This meant that the quiet pizzicati from this section in the third movement could be played so that they were more felt than heard. Smaller bass violin sections require fewer players to play louder, and the lush effect is lost. Another highlight of this performance was the fine playing in the third movement of guest harpist Georganne Cassat, who drove up from Eden, N.C., for the concert.

The final movement features a selection from the "Wunderhorn" collection of folk poems that so obsessed Mahler throughout his life. The words of this poem, which describe a child's vision of heaven, were sung by soprano Diana Walker. (There was no text of the poem, either in German or in translation, in the program guide.) Walker's performance was marked by a pleasing simplicity, even naivety, which were appropriate to a text that would be ruined by a warm, sexy delivery. Walker's bouquet was delivered by a little boy, who, to the delight of the audience, was rewarded with a kiss from the soprano.

After such an exemplary Mahler, there seemed to be a distinct slackening of tension during the first two movements of Brahms' last and greatest symphony. The first movement could have benefited from a greater sense of urgency and more pronounced dynamic contrast, and the second movement also seemed to lack energy.

This situation altered beginning with the vigorous third movement, a movement which, incidentally, refutes those who claim Brahms could not write a true scherzo. The RSO seemed to recover its inspiration here, and the mammoth passacaglia that makes up the last movement was played powerfully.