Classical Concert Reviews Cinci

@uc_ccm opened its 2024-25 Choral and Orchestral Series with a performance of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection” that must be considered the finest ever given by a collegiate orchestra on this side of the Atlantic. Assembling 250 student musicians to play a work of such intensity and scale would be considered a daring feat, but the CCM Philharmonia and Choruses more than rose to the occasion. Setting the scene with a jubilant performance of the overture to Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio, the assembled forces took the capacity audience in Corbett Auditorium on a musical journey which was full of blazing power and brooding darkness with flashes of wit, particularly in the second and third movements. Particular praise must be given to the massive percussion section and offstage instruments in the fifth movement as well as the scintillating solos provided by cor anglais, oboe, flute and violin (the latter by the Philharmonia’s current concertmaster, Hyunwoo Park).
Mezzo-soprano Kayleigh Decker (@kayleighpantz) , an alum of CCM’s opera program making a welcome return to Cincinnati, sang what may be the most soulful and impassioned rendition of the fourth movement song setting Urlicht which I have encountered in nearly 20 years of hearing it live. Her voice possessed harrowing, haunting beauty from the first to the last note, and an engaging sense of drama in the fifth movement. Soprano Amanda Woodbury (@amandawoodburysoprano), another CCM alum, brought an impassioned timbre to her voice, even if her moments in the spotlight were fewer in number.
The UC and CCM Choruses, prepared by directors Brett Scott, Trevor Kroeger, Ryan Block and Joe Miller, possessed a sound full of majesty and hushed wonder from its first entrance, bursting at the seams in the symphony’s final 5 minutes of music.
Even if the acoustic quirks of Corbett Auditorium may not have done the assembled musicians any favors, it was still an extremely impressive way to open the new season with such amazing groups as these which some people may tend to overlook in the Queen City’s crown jewel of classical music. Eagerly looking forward to future performances with these amazing ensembles.