Markus Poschner Conducts Tchaikovsky's "Pathetique" Symphony

I was thrilled to attend the Utah Symphony concert last night because the future Music Director Markus Poschner was on the podium!  I am already such a big fan of his, especially when he conducts without a score (which he did last night).  It ended up being an absolutely glorious evening of music and you should probably stop reading now and get a ticket to tonight's performance of the same program because there were not many empty seats in Abravanel Hall last night.  The orchestra was joined by the Utah Symphony Chorus, soloist Shea Owens, and a chorister of the Madeleine Choir School for Gabriel Fauré's Requiem and it was beautiful.  I love Mozart's Requiem because it is incredibly dramatic but Fauré's version is much more comforting because he saw death as a release rather than something to be feared.  He used excerpts from the Requiem Mass but also included other liturgies to create something different to reflect his own beliefs about death.  I especially loved the Sanctus because it featured beautiful arpeggios played by the harp accompanied by a rising melody performed by the violins.  A fanfare by the horns followed while the male voices sang,"Hosanna in excelis."  The female voices answered softly as the harp repeated the arpeggios and it ended with the full choir accompanied by the organ.  It was lovely.  The  Pie Jesu was sung by the chorister (he did an amazing job) and hearing this prayer to Jesus for everlasting rest by a young voice was so moving.  I also loved the line, "In paradisum deducant angeli (May angels lead you to paradise)," sung by the sopranos in the In Paradisum because it gave me goosebumps.  This piece was lush without being overpowering and I really enjoyed it.  After the intermission, the orchestra played Symphony No. 6 "Pathetique" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and this was another beautiful performance.  I think all of Tchaikovsky's music is emotional but this is even more so because it was composed shortly before his death and many believe it to be his farewell (he said himself that it was the best and most sincere of all of his compositions).  I loved the intensity of the first movement with the powerful themes performed by the brass intertwined with solos played by the woodwinds, the whimsical third movement with themes played by the strings that eventually reach a triumphant climax (the audience applauded at the end of it), and the haunting final movement that ends with a gong and themes played by the cellos and basses that seem to disappear into nothingness.  It was a wonderful concert, one of the best Utah Symphony performances I've seen in a while, and I highly recommend it (go here for tickets).