Toronto Symphony Orchestra – Mahler’s Symphony No. 3

Paula Citron
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Mahler’s Symphony No. 3
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Composed by Gustav Mahler
Conducted by Peter Oundjian
With Susan Platts, mezzo-soprano, the Women of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and Toronto Children’s Chorus
At Roy Thomson Hall Thursday and Saturday
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The opening of the TSO’s season is a magnificent reading of Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 conducted by music director Peter Oundjian.

The maestro is not a Flash Harry of a conductor. Rather, he serves the intention of the composer with careful attention to detail, particularly in orchestration, and balancing the dramatic arc of the music with acute sensitivity to mood. The result is a Mahler that contains exquisite lightness of touch, coupled with the gravitas of nobility and the transcendental plane of the sublime. It is a very moving performance.

Mezzo-soprano Susan Platts is a national treasure. She is musical down to her toes and always lifts the words to a level of interpretive excellence. Her beautiful honey voice conveys the most subtle of meanings and colour. The Women of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and the Toronto Children’s Chorus also cover themselves with glory.

The evening is magic.

Mahler’s Third Symphony continues at Roy Thomson Hall tonight and Saturday.