Exhausting exhilaration> Bangor Symphony’s Mahler program lively

First things first about the Bangor Symphony Orchestra’s concerts this weekend.

John Bradford, president of the symphony board of directors, warmly applauded the audience for its commendable support — both financially and civically. Turning 100 last year was a momentous event for the symphony, and that got administrators thinking about the future. Consequently, the Bangor Symphony folks have been dedicating themselves to a capital campaign to establish an endowment so the orchestra will be around in another 100 years or more.

Bradford recounted how the orchestra turned to the limping National Endowment for the Arts for assistance. The goal was to get a few thousand bucks, he said. And in spite of economic squeezes, the NEA awarded the symphony a $70,000 grant last week. It must be matched threefold by fund-raising efforts, but it’s clear that the Bangor Symphony has impressed more than its local fans, and the acknowledgement of national support was a wham-bam way to end the season.

Nothing could be more wham-bam, however, than the orchestra’s performance of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C Minor (also called “Resurrection”). The hyperactive score, which was presented with commandeering bigness as the sole piece on the program, was just a little reminiscent of Grand Central Station during rush hour.

Many of the orchestral instruments are doubled for this massive symphonic poem. In addition to a full orchestra, this Mahlerian monster calls for 10 horns, eight trumpets, two harps, cymbals, tam-tams, snare drums, a glockenspiel and bells, bells, bells. Some of the musicians play offstage and then move onstage. During a pause between the fourth and fifth movements, a large chorus, including the University of Maine Oratorio Society and the University Singers, plus soprano and alto soloists, filed onto stage for a raucous vocal finale. The stage was bumper-to-bumper crowded, and the result was a very exciting and satisfying whirl of music.

Some conductors would be tempted to fly with the self-indulgent dramatics of this symphony, but Christopher Zimmerman avoided all notions of exaggeration, and held the exotic score back with sober control. The best part of that directorial choice was that the audience got teased into a constant state of anticipation. On the other hand, Mahler’s score is an all-out affair that yanks listeners through a ludicrously broad emotional range. So there were times when Zimmerman’s choices were somewhat leaden and humorless. Indeed, even the adroit soloists, Ronit Widmann-Levy (alto) and Ellen Chickering (soprano), were a bit grave while singing lyrics about eternal bliss and heavenly rebirth.

Except for a few bumpy stumbles, the musicians were in fine form for this concert. They easily shifted from sardonic marches to tender melodies to folk dance rhythms, and didn’t falter with the disjunction of tempos so central to Mahler’s work. Likewise, the UM vocal groups, ably prepared by Lud Hallman and Dennis Cox, spread a peaceful balm across the turbulence of the first and last movements.

It was a busy concert — exhausting and exhilarating and inspiring. To know that the Bangor Symphony has a shot at sticking around for another 100 years is even more exciting. That’s something to toot your horn at for sure.