DATE: Saturday, March 29, 1997              TAG: 9703290396

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Music Review 

SOURCE: BY PAUL SAYEGH, CORRESPONDENT 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   38 lines

VIRGINIA SYMPHONY DELIVERS WELL IN MAHLER'S RARELY DONE SEVENTH

The Virginia Symphony gave further proof of its musical and artistic growth Friday night when it performed Gustav Mahler's huge ``Symphony No. 7'' at Chrysler Hall, under the direction of Music Director JoAnn Falletta.

It is hard to imagine that this performance could have taken place even a decade ago in Hampton Roads. Yet here was the Virginia Symphony in probably the most challenging work it has yet programmed.

Mahler's mighty work, neglected for years, is considered a formidable undertaking - it's not an easy piece to play, let alone organize into a coherent musical statement.

Friday's performance started out unevenly. The opening march wasn't sharply delineated, sounding too soft and spongy. Without the rhythm to hold the movement together, it began to sound episodic, though the individual sections were well played and the lyrical moments had plenty of passion.

Things came into better focus in the second movement, where Falletta highlighted the delicate scoring. Details such as cowbells and two cellos in duet were beautifully handled. In the serenade-like fourth movement, the guitar and mandolin were successfully balanced with the rest of the orchestra.

The orchestra's finest moments came in the nightmarish third movement, the musical equivalent of things that go bump in the night. All the shadowy, grotesque orchestral details were in place, the rhythms sharply pointed.

Mahler's finale, usually the weakest point of this symphony, was unusually strong on this occasion. Falletta wisely adopted a patient approach, bringing out the musical interest in each episode and building slowly to the final climax. When it arrived, it really did seem like a culmination rather than just a noisy conclusion. The orchestra played with unflagging energy to the very end, and with a high level of accomplishment throughout.

Performances of Mahler's Seventh are rare anywhere; ones as successful as Friday's are even rarer and something for local audiences to cheer about.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu