Mahler's Symphony of 0.350 Thousand

[robcat2075]

I bought a ticket to hear a new euphonium concerto at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra last January but it was called on account of rain. I was able to trade that in for a performance last Saturday of Mahler's Symphony No. 8.


Sometime during COVID the concert hall stage got a permanent extension (A), for this production another extension was added (B). They filled every performer nook but only got up to 350 players for this Symphony of a Thousand.

20260516_193104Mahler8.jpg

I've heard Mahler 1, 2 and 4 in person before. No.8 is not nearly as musically interesting. Too much chorus, too many vocalists, too much text to put over, not enough orchestra. No great trombone licks.

At the pre-concert talk the DSO Chorus Director said this work required 12 chorus rehearsals. By comparison, he said he might schedule six rehearsals for a Brahms Requiem and a Beethoven 9 might get only two.

YouTube critic David Hurwitz said that a "concerto for orchestra" is really a symphony by someone who doesn't want to admit they've written a symphony. I will say that this symphony is really an oratorio by someone who didn't want to admit he's written an oratorio. But now I can say I've heard it.


However, great sadness a few days later when Limmie Pulliam the tenor soloist in these performances died.

A day of mourning for American opera star

Apparently he had an interesting personal story having just resumed singing a few years ago after 20 years of not singing. It was very concerning to see him struggle to get up to his spot on stage.

Here he is singing something way better than Mahler 8. Check out the reaction of the singer next to him.

[robcat2075]

The NY Times has come out with an obit...

Limmie Pulliam, Tenor Who Overcame the Stigma of His Size, Dies at 50