Orchestra Iowa ends season with triumph

CEDAR RAPIDS - Orchestra Iowa's final concert of the 2010-2011 season was a fitting climax to a spectacular year.

A season that began Sept. 18 with a multimedia presentation of Holst's “The Planets” on the lawn at Brucemore ended Saturday with a triumphant performance of Mahler's ”Symphony No. 5?  in The Concert Hall at College Community.

Maestro Tim Hankewich, conducting without a score, led the orchestra through Mahler's five-movement masterpiece. From the opening trumpet notes of the “Trauermarsch,” it became quickly apparent this was going to be a special evening for the musicians and the audience.

Kudos are in order for a brass section that more than rose to the occasion, responding to Hankewich's direction with precision execution. The woodwinds and strings were powerful when they needed to be in the second movement, “Sturmisch  bewegt, mit grosster Vehemenz (Stormy, with greatest vehemence)” and equally soft and sublime when the music required it.

The horns, led by Principal Charles Harris, were magnificent in the lengthy third movement, “Scherzo,” that contains themes ranging from heady euphoria to confused despair and finally recovery.

Principal Harp Gretchen Brumwell and the orchestra's string section delivered a bravura performance of the tender and emotional fourth movement, “Adagietto,” which many musicians consider a love letter from Mahler to his wife, Alma. Scored for harp and strings, the movement is in sharp contrast to the loud brassiness of the three previous movements.

The “Finale-Rondo” builds through a complex counterpoint that leaves the audience breathless. No sooner had the final notes sounded than members of the audience leapt to their feet, many of them shouting “Bravo!”

Hankewich was equally joyous, leaping into the air in celebration of the orchestra's triumphant performance. The maestro returned to the stage to give individual recognition to each section of the orchestra.

The loudest applause was reserved for Diane Jacobs, a cellist who is retiring after performing with Orchestra Iowa for 61 seasons.

Hankewich praised the orchestra at the outset, saying the 2010-2011 season was the best in the five years he has been music director. After Saturday's performance, it would be very hard to argue with that assessment.