Redwood Symphony's most spectacular concert of the season

The Redwood Symphony and its music director, Eric Kujawsky, are old hands at Mahler — this is their third traversal through his entire symphonic canon — and their skill is exceptional. The sound was clear and precise. There were large stretches where the listener could not tell that this was a volunteer orchestra and not a premier professional ensemble. Little touches of characteristic Mahlerian tone color popped up everywhere: cheeky squawks in the winds, ghostly brass fanfares, timpani slams to make listeners jump out of their seats. I even thought I heard a small touch of portamento slide in some lyric string passages, a typical effect of Mahler’s day that most modern string players can’t achieve even if they try.

Kujawsky had the orchestra take the long and heavy first movement in an ominous and brooding manner. Sudden breaks into other tempers such as triumph or resignation passed by in quick succession, clearly conveyed by the performers.

After this, the briefer and lighter second and third movements came across as lilting and cheerfully lively, respectively. The fourth movement, also brief and tender, is the first vocal section. Mezzo-soprano Kindra Scharich sang the German lyrics about heavenly light in a gentle, caressing fashion.

The long orchestral opening of the finale returns to the turbulent vein of the first movement. By this time Mahler doesn’t have anything left to say that he hasn’t already covered somewhere. The music felt superfluous. The instrumentalists were beginning to sound a bit tired out, also.

All was forgiven when the chorus finally entered in what felt like an epilogue. The mode changed from stormy to grave. A strong collection of some 120 voices from three choirs sang out with a full, rich quality. Even coming from the back of a deep-set stage, the choral tones were powerful enough to balance against the orchestra perfectly. Neither sound interfered with the other and the result was exquisite. Solo soprano Raeeka Shehabi-Yaghmai’s voice rose out of the blend like a bird, while Scharich sang in a firmer and more declarative manner than in the more docile previous movement.

Despite the symphony’s length, it was not the entirety of the program. The concert began with the San Francisco Bay Area Chamber Choir, one of the participating choral groups, singing Aaron Copland’s “In the Beginning,” an entirely unaccompanied 17-minute setting of the creation story from Genesis 1-2 in the King James Bible. The words pass between the chorus and a solo soprano, the pure-voiced Christine Abraham. The choir’s music director, Buddy James, conducted.

Copland’s setting is mostly in the manner of an operatic recitative. Only occasionally does it show the bounce and snap characteristic of his well-known ballet and film music. But the piece proceeds through the tale of the seven days of creation briskly and with vigor.

With only some 20 voices, the choral sound was grittier and more textured than the full chorus in the Mahler. But the power and the quality of the singing were truly impressive. This is a choir of outstanding ability, as indeed it and its fellow groups went on to show in the Mahler.

Redwood Symphony’s next concert, on April 5 at Cañada College, will feature Piotr Tchaikovsky’s beloved “Pathétique” Symphony and Olivier Messiaen’s “Concert a Quatre,” a work with four soloists and much quotation of Messiaen’s favorite form of music, birdsong. The Bay Area Chamber Choir will perform its spring concert, featuring music from South America, on May 4 at All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Palo Alto.