... and, after 45 minutes, they follow.

As one of the stranger seasons I've experienced in Philadelphia draws
to a close (strange because of the combination pre-new-hall torpor,
mindnumblingly conservative programming, post-director-search anger and
generally astonishingly high level of playing), Yakov Kreizberg, one of the
more promising young conductors, arrived for a concert that did not promise
much:  the Mozart k466 concerto (#20) with a relatively unheralded Angela
Hewitt, and the Mahler 1st (again??!!!!).

And, for about 45, that lack of promise was realized.  Fussy conducting,
gestures completely unrelated to the music, bored musicians who clearly
weren't paying any attention to the conductor, an accurate but uninspiring
pianist (nerves?), all conspired with the infamously Mozart-stifling
acoustics of the Academy to produce a real yawner.

At that point, Kreizberg's rep look like the product of considerable p.r.
hype, not real talent.  We were not looking forward to another walk through
of the Mahler 1st.  Whether this failure was the result of rehearsal
problems, bad leadership or the tendency of the PO to treat young
conductors like Turandot's suitors, remained to be seen.

Now, I will never understand the mysterious chemistry between musicians and
conductors, but I can't remember an experience like the feeling in the hall
when, suddenly, toward the end of the first movement of the Mahler, 100
players and conductor suddenly locked on to each other like Tristan and
Isolde after the Liebestrank.  The sudden explosion of synergy was palpable
in the audience.  The 1st movement had unfolded cleanly, but with little
mystery or tension in the opening (the mystery WAS there in the reprisal
in the 4th movement).  In Kreizberg's favor was an ability to keep the
orchestra's texture clear and clean through climaxes, an extremely
difficult feat in the Academy's awful acoustics.  I particularly admired
Kreizberg's fastidious attention to Mahler's specific instructions, some of
which will send me back to the score later today; these included, raised
wind bells, horns standing at the end (along with a single trumpet and
trombone - I've never seen that before), audible use of bow wood in the
violas during the finale.  The fussy, overconducting seen in the Mozart was
replaced by clear, economical leadership.

Garnering an ovation from an audience with this work is almost shamelessly
easy, but this one was earned.  In addition to the applause from the
orchestra, musicians refused to stand for Kreizberg, an honor I haven't
seen them bestow on anyone not named Simon or Wolfgang in a long time.

Kreizberg returns next year with his beloved Shostakovich.  I look forward
to it.

Robin Mitchell-Boyask
Temple University
Philadelphia PA 19122