When the last "evig..." of "Der Abschied" died away tonight, the audience obeyed the conductor's upraised hands to savor the silence, and before the applause started, the tenor - and many others - wiped tears away. Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony started the season with a straightforward, fluid, affecting performance of Mahler's "Das Lied von der Erde" in Davies Hall. The two soloists were both Merola Program alumni: tenor Stuart Skelton (1995) and baritone Thomas Hampson (1980), performing with great impact, if not without problems. Skelton's voice - right fach, phrasing and diction - was overwhelmed by the role's Wagnerian-heldentenor-plus requirements, at times difficult to hear even as MTT maintained the right balance. Also, Skelton lacked the experience, performing from the score throughout - something not quite effective when singing "a song of sorrow... (to) echo through your soul"... "until the moon gleams in the black firmament." But, again, the voice is a thing of beauty, and as these performances are being recorded, microphones may make up for his lack of power. Hampson, of course, is a famed veteran of the (Mahler-sanctioned) baritone version, instead of the original alto. His performance was clear, powerful, intelligent, but in comparison with the Hampson of five years ago, also in this hall, some of the warmth and beauty of the voice was no longer fully present. Even so, Hampson's stunning diction and ability to project even the quietest passages through the wall put up by the orchestra are extraordinary. MTT's greatest accomplishment tonight was to present the work as a whole, an hour-long gestalt. That virtue came at the cost of excesses being reined in, and there is something slightly off about a consistent, disciplined, even sort of Mahler. An unexpected bonus was the authentic and near-flawless performance of Mozart's Symphony No. 34, from a conductor and orchestra not exactly known as Mozart specialists. The Allegro and Finale were both among the very best heard in this hall, the Andante was gorgeous, if slightly Mahleresque in its romanticism. Disregard the small picks, try to catch this excellent concert on Thursday, Friday or Saturday: www.sfsymphony.org. Janos Gereben www.sfcv.org [log in to unmask] *********************************************** The CLASSICAL mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's HDMail High Deliverability Mailer for reliable, lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html