An Ambitious Orchestra Raises Its Own Bar With Trek Across Mahler 9th
Jacksonville Symphony, Mahler Symphony No. 9, Jacoby Symphony Hall, Jacksonville
JACKSONVILLE — The Jacksonville Symphony performed Mahler’s Symphony No. 9, the composer’s final completed symphony and one of the most demanding pieces in the standard repertoire, Nov. 6 in Jacoby Symphony Hall. The massive Ninth is a test of stamina and virtuosity for the entire ensemble, with fragile exposure for individual players and intricate ensemble textures. For this ambitious orchestra, performing the Ninth for the first time under its charismatic music director, Courtney Lewis, and the first time since 1992, the concert was a benchmark in its 77-year history.
Lewis, a protégé of Gustavo Dudamel, has been in Jacksonville for more than a decade, during which the orchestra has grown its budget and audience, increased the number of full-time musicians to 60 from 53, and expanded to a 40-week season. Lewis is committed to the Late Romantic repertoire: He’s led the orchestra in a complete Sibelius cycle and next year will conduct the final symphony of a Bruckner cycle. As for Mahler, he’s now conducted all of the symphonies except Nos. 4 and 7.
In an interview prior to the performance, Lewis talked about his passion for Mahler. “Because he was such a great conductor, he knew how to write virtuoso parts for everyone in the orchestra, from violas to piccolos, stretching each to the limit. Also, something about his music speaks to our time: the alienation of the individual in our fragmented, lonely society. And there’s something very real about his music. Beethoven moves from darkness to light, with a hero or protagonist who triumphs.
“Mahler’s music mirrors our experience of life, where there isn’t a sense of culmination or climactic moment, just a feeling of dealing with what’s happening. And the Ninth is so much about saying farewell. Every climax is followed by an anticlimax, as if Mahler is systematically saying farewell to friends, family, earlier versions of himself, the countryside, and music. I wouldn’t say it’s pessimistic because of course it ends in a particular kind of transcendence.”
It was easy to get lost (in a good way) in Lewis’ performance of the long first movement, here taken quite slowly. There were a few tentative moments in the most exposed passages, but overall the orchestra, expanded to almost 100 musicians, played with exemplary precision.
In his iconic 1961 recording of the Ninth with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Walter, who had conducted the premiere nearly 50 years earlier, can be heard tapping his foot in the Ländler (second) movement. And I found myself resisting the urge to do the same thing here, with just the right tempos and energy. But the Rondo-Burleske (third) movement was too polite and measured. It needs to be raw and chaotic, with blood on the floor.
Lewis mentioned that he had thought a great deal about the pacing of the final Adagio movement. Walter took it quite fast, while Bernstein was famously slow. Lewis’ tempos felt closer to Bernstein’s. But while Bernstein’s approach is existential — a devastating meditation on mortality — Lewis sees it as a highly sentimental farewell, with an emphasis on nostalgia. So this was gentler, more refined, with less extreme dynamics, and leaner, with clear textures. And after the music faded to silence, the audience, clearly moved, sat for a minute or so before applauding.
As with any professional orchestra, the Jacksonville Symphony tries to cover the full spectrum of orchestral music, from Baroque to contemporary, with commissioned works each season. And since Jacksonville lacks a full-time professional opera company, the orchestra performs “symphony staged” operas every other year, configuring the stage with the singers on a raised platform behind the musicians. In the alternate years, they perform concert versions of operas; this season the concerts Jan. 29 and 30, 2027, pair the “Triumphal Scene” from Aida with a 70-minute suite from Tristan und Isolde, arranged by Lewis.
Perhaps the most interesting event this season will take place Nov. 14. In the early days of motion pictures, before the Hollywood era began, Jacksonville had a number of silent-film studios. One, Norman Studios, was dedicated to Black actors in dignified leading roles. Their only surviving feature film, The Flying Ace, was inspired by Bessie Coleman, the first Black woman to earn a pilot’s license in the U.S. A team of six black composers, led by Carlos Simon, has written a score to be performed by the orchestra, with each composer contributing music for one of the six reels. The concert marks the movie’s 100th anniversary.
The Jacksonville Symphony’s home, Jacoby Symphony Hall, is part of the Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts. The hall, which opened in 1997, underwent a significant renovation prior to this season, improving comfort while reducing the seating from 1,600 to 1,400 and adding acoustical shelving to improve the already superb acoustics. The atrium area has sweeping views of the Saint Johns River. It is an enchanting place to experience the orchestra.