Illinois Symphony Orchestra’s “Vision and Vitality” concert on March 6 was a feast for the ears, as well as an impressive showcase for the versatility of the orchestra itself. As programmed and conducted by music director Taichi Fukumura, the evening provided both delicacy and bombast along with a striking contrast in mood and intent compared with last month’s largely light and frothy Valentine’s Day performance. This weekend’s concert was both soaring and contemplative, leaving the crowd rapt and exhilarated.
The very brief first portion of the evening (just over 20 minutes) began with “Vitality” by contemporary composer Gala Flagello. The piece was a fitting opening for the concert, inspired as it was by a poem by Martha Graham. Maestro Fukumura described it during remarks at the start of the evening as “a celebration of life as well as a warning not to take it for granted.” It was a theme that would resonate throughout the evening.
Next on the program was “Rainbow Body” (2013) by Christopher Theofanidis. The title refers to a Tibetan Buddhist concept. “When the physical body reaches enlightenment,” explained Fukumura, “it passes away into the cosmos and becomes light, becomes energy.” Indeed, the musicians of the orchestra brought the audience through a symbolic lifetime worth of changes in a compact framework arriving at a soaring, sonic climax in just under 15 minutes.
Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 (1901) happens to be more than twice as long as the evening’s first two compositions combined, and in fact took up the entirety of the second section of the evening’s program. Described by Fukumura as “a journey from childhood to the heavenly light,” the dense and emotionally stirring symphony evoked philosophical themes of life, death and transcendence parallel to the two earlier pieces. Mahler’s beautiful melodies and sometimes surprising juxtapositions were performed by the musicians with great strength and delicacy, eventually climaxing in the fourth and final movement with a transcendent vocal performance by world-renowned guest soprano Madison Leonard. The words, from “Das Himmlische Leben” (“The Heavenly Life”) bring the perspective of a child to a vision of Heaven. “The angelic voices / Delight the senses, / For all things awake to joy” – the English translations of the movement’s final stanza – act as a fitting description of the evening’s musical bounty.
“Simple Gifts,” the next ISO concert, is scheduled for April 10 at First Presbyterian Church in Springfield and will feature Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring.”
