Mahler’s Third a Truly Grand Finale For Gimeno and The Toronto Symphony Orchestra
June 14, 2024
By Arthur Kaptainis
Ludwig van Toronto  

​Never fails might be putting the case too strongly, but Mahler’s Third Symphony — famously the longest in the standard repertoire — is well suited to special occasions. It served the Toronto Symphony Orchestra admirably on Thursday as a classical-season sendoff in the second of three concerts in Roy Thomson Hall.

On the podium, of course, was TSO music director Gustavo Gimeno, always an arms-up and clear-headed supervisor, but on this occasion also a man with a Mahlerian message to communicate. The half-hour first movement was a mighty drama, vivid in detail, gripping as a whole. No section was found wanting, not a moment sagged. “Summer marches in” is the inscription Mahler left on his manuscript. And how. No wonder there was a burst of applause as Gimeno stepped down for a breather.

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The sopranos and altos of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir (Jean-Sébastien Vallée, director) and the Toronto Children’s Choir (Zimfira Poloz, director) made joyful sounds — “what the angels tell me” — in the penultimate movement. Somebody decided to add a sit-down choreography to the final bars, a charming effect.

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