CBSO/Yamada review – apocalyptic and soul-shaking Mahler opens the season

Mahler’s apocalyptic Second Symphony is a popular season opener these days, a reliably emotional experience guaranteed to pack them in with a message of hope that transcends the overtly Christian message underpinning its finale. It was a good choice for the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Kazuki Yamada, a conductor who combines theatrical vision with a keen instinct for orchestral colour.

This was a bold reading from the outset. Yamada indulged in a massive intake of breath after the initial rush of cellos and basses before permitting the orchestra to proceed. The opening march was slow and steady, a treacly elasticity releasing its pent-up energy in colossal, delayed climaxes. The first movement was high on extremes, from overwhelmingly noisy to breathlessly hushed; from drawn-out funereal to foot-on-the-gas urgent. Orchestral discipline was tight and solo contributions distinguished. The blend was never less than acceptable, though a mid-symphony pause to retune was a good call.

A bold reading … Kazuki Yamada. Photograph: Hannah Blake-Fathers

The second movement felt a trifle micro-managed and might have been lighter on its feet. Orchestra and conductor rediscovered their groove for the scherzo, however, where oily clarinets and croaking bassoons intertwined with reptilian strings. Jess Dandy’s Urlicht was delivered with an unaffected directness, her ample mezzo with its oaky lower register a stream of liquid amber.

Any performance of the Resurrection Symphony stands or falls on the extensive closing movement with its depiction of the Day of Judgment and choral finale. From hereon in, Yamada didn’t put a foot wrong, tempering the unfolding narrative with a sure sense of musical architecture. Graves really did seem to open up as a series of percussive crescendos shook the hall. Atmospheric on- and off-stage brass and woodwind were secure and deftly balanced, from an eerie last trumpet to Mahler’s song of a solitary nightingale.

It was left to Dandy, joined by the gleaming soprano of Anna Patalong, to rally the composer’s so-called saintly throng. Cue the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus, here giving their 1,000th performance, who duly set the seal on Yamada’s finely judged interpretation. Singing with tremendous spirit, rock-solid tone, and entirely from memory, they really did bear our souls to heaven.