You really haven’t lived until you’ve heard Gustav Mahler’s Fifth Symphony performed in a 14th century church * there really is no way to describe it.  Certainly powerful and admittedly loud, but also clear, transparent and moving.

 

Thursday night the Minnesota Orchestra made its debut at the Ascona Festival in Locarno, Switzerland.  The venue was the Chiesa di San Francesco, a 14th century church originally built as a Franciscan monastery.  One would expect the acoustics to more suited to medieval chant, or maybe chamber music, but the Orchestra sounded magnificent in the space.  

 

Instrument and wardrobe trunks, usually found in various nooks and hallways in tour venues, were scattered along arched walkways between cobblestone and gravel courtyards.  Musicians found corners and crannies to warm up in creating an unusually resonant pre-concert experience. The aesthetic was fairly spare, but layers of gorgeous, old frescos were visible inside the church.  

 

Old met new on stage where the rough stone walls were brightly lit with lights on tall stands and microphones suspended over the Orchestra.  Clearly, the musicians didn’t need any amplification * the microphones were in use by radio producers broadcasting the concert.

 

Bassist William Schrickle related his favorite moment after the concert.  “At a certain point in the Mahler symphony, the basses were really digging in.  It was thrilling!  And all of a sudden, I felt a rough piece of stone hit my back.  It was a piece of the plaster from the ceiling.  We were literally bringing the house down!  Someone tried to brush the white residue off my tux jacket after the concert, but I wouldn’t let them.  I want to keep it there as a souvenir.”