In Sunday’s (9/20) Toledo Blade (Ohio), Sally Vallongo writes, “Toledo Symphony Orchestra players have spent months working out so that the venerable orchestra will be fit to play a complex piece next weekend. The challenge: Gustav Mahler and his Symphony No. 3 in D Minor, perennially ranked in the top 10 of toughest orchestral works. In a bold kickoff for its marquee series, the Classics, TSO players and principal conductor Stefan Sanderling, plus more than 100 singers—including famed mezzo-soprano Suzanna Guzman—will line up on the Peristyle stage Friday for the first of two encounters with the longest and one of the most complex symphonies in the entire orchestral repertoire. … Sanderling, a Mahler specialist in his sixth year in Toledo, holds a similar position with the Florida Orchestra in Tampa, where he also has scheduled the Mahler work to open that group’s classical season. Yes, the musical gauntlet has been tossed, and [percussionist Keith] McWatters, who handles all personnel matters for the 100-piece orchestra, knows why. ‘Stefan schedules demanding music early in the season. It’s to get us up and running.’ The ploy has worked, he adds. ‘People were worried about Mahler in July.’ That’s when sheet music was distributed by librarian Ray Clark.”
Posted September 21, 2009
