I think I just took part in the premiere of a masterpiece: Stephen Dankner's Symphony No. 5, "Odyssey of Faith" -- a Mahlerian extravaganza of 5 soloists, large symphony orchestra, klezmer stage band, and two (count 'em, two) large choirs. The only thing we lacked was a children's choir. I refer to Mahler, and that's no accident, since Dankner has heretofore been so admiring of Mahler's work that it's crushed him, leading him to produce bland imitations of the real thing. A few years ago, however, things began to change. Ersatz-Mahler recedes and something individual begins to peek out. The new symphonyshows Dankner coming into his own, with something personal and powerful to say. One still hears traces of Mahler (not that that's necessarily a bad thing), especially in a string orchestra "Lament," in the use of the klezmer vulgate within a "high-toned" work, and in the encyclopedic references to other works of the Austro-German classical tradition (there's a very telling instance of Schubert's "Der Leiermann"). Nevertheless, for this work, Mahler is merely an inspiration, rather than an end. I can't, of course, tell you what the music sounds like. The program, however, is a dauntingly ambitious one: a search for faith in the wake of the Holocaust. Normally, a subject so heady summons forth embarrassingly bad music. I can think of very few pieces so philosophically ambitious that actually succeed: Beethoven's 9th, Mahler's 2nd and 8th, Wagner's Ring, Lees's 4th, Britten's War Requiem, off the top of my head. Comparisons are, of course, inherently invidious, since none of these works musically resembles the others, but this gives you some idea of the level of Dankner's ambition. I think he brings it off. A side note: Dankner, like Britten in the War Requiem, uses texts and the juxtaposition of texts brilliantly. The main progress of the symphony's "plot" runs as follows: the covenant of God and Israel; the Holocaust; mourning; redemption. One must ask how redemption is possible after the Holocaust. Dankner, to his credit, supplies no definitive answer, but the direction of his thought takes shape in his retelling of the story of Ezekial in the valley of the dry bones and in a poem, "I Am a Jew," written by a child prisoner at Terezin. At least one lesson is the resolution to survive and to live your life in your own way. As you can tell, this is a very expensive work to produce (the choruses donated their services), and Dankner isn't all that well known. Consequently, a CD will probably not be available any time soon. I hope some company does see fit to record it (especially replacing my chorus, which gave a "game try," but whose efforts simply don't come up to professional snuff). The audience received the work with an instant standing O and brought the conductor and crew back five times (two is New-Orleans normal, three is exceptional). Local audiences, I admit, love to stand up and clap, even when it isn't (in my opinion -- the only one that *really* counts) warranted. But that's usually done in dribs and drabs. Someone sees somebody else standing and decides it might be fun or a shibboleth of Culture to stand, too. In this case, the audience as one sprang to its collective feets. A little surprising watching this from the stage, let me tell you. And I think it was thoroughly deserved. Dankner has just been named Composer in Residence of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (known locally as the LPO and by me as La Phil). We give the second performance tonight. Steve Schwartz