In Carnegie Hall concert, Philadelphia Orchestra finding reserves of power

NEW YORK - This time, any rumbling in Carnegie Hall from the subway was drowned out by the Philadelphia Orchestra, which opened its four-concert series here with a performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 6 ("Tragic") that gave no listener an easy ride, and showed that the orchestra lost nothing during its short strike in recent days.

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In Carnegie Hall concert, Philadelphia Orchestra finding reserves of power

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The orchestra did gain blue and gold ribbons that the players wore onstage as a show of solidarity with orchestras in Pittsburgh and Fort Worth, Texas, that are in the thick of labor problems.

This Carnegie concert was a priority in terms of saving the fall season when the orchestra walked Sept. 30. The Berlin-based Simon Rattle guest-conducts few American orchestras, and this Monday concert was part of his Carnegie Hall "Perspectives" series - a two-season carte blanche.

The 90-minute Mahler is a massive piece that for all of its popularity is still considered a special occasion, demanding every possible extreme. In the seats around me, one man briefly covered his ears. Another man greeted the final movement's famous hammer effects with doubled-up fists.

A standing ovation accompanied by whoops was inevitable.

A longtime Mahlerite, Rattle is of a generation that refuses to smooth down the composer's rough edges and apparent musical digressions. No artificial logic was imposed by Rattle, who encouraged all of the music's most radical tendencies in ways that suggest, more than perhaps anything else written by Mahler, that this is a symphony at war with itself, with contrasting, free-associating ideas on a collision course.

The first movement showed the Philadelphia Orchestra bordering on overkill. How could the rest not be anticlimactic?

The "Andante" movement with its famous evocation of mountain scenery projected the expected graciousness, but even that had a rhythmic edge.

The third movement felt like a series of grotesque dances, and the cacophonous final movement showed the Philadelphia Orchestra finding unexpected power in reserve. No question that the orchestra earned its hard-won salaries.

dstearns@phillynews.com