Review: Soprano Julia Bullock gives a powerful, magnetic performance with the Minnesota Orchestra

At a time when folks could use a little shot of optimism, there was much of it in the air before concert time at Minneapolis’ Orchestra Hall on Friday night.

On the Minnesota Orchestra’s program was not only a symphony by Gustav Mahler — repertoire with which the musicians had established some expertise over the course of recording the composer’s complete symphonic cycle in recent years — but a soprano who’s creating quite a sensation, Julia Bullock, singing music of Benjamin Britten.

Seeing as music director Thomas Søndergård and the orchestra have found their greatest successes together with large-scale works, one of Mahler’s big, loud, long, ambitious symphonies would seem to be an ideal fit for this still fairly young marriage of conductor and ensemble.

And so it was. Friday night’s presentation of Mahler’s First Symphony took its place among the most memorable performances in which Søndergård and the orchestra have collaborated, achieving an intensity and level of execution comparable to their interpretations of Richard Strauss tone poems, Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” and Maurice Ravel’s “Daphnis and Chloe.”

Not only that, but any concerns that Søndergård was a master of only the massive were dispensed with when Bullock joined the orchestra’s strings for Britten’s song cycle, “Les Illuminations.” It was a beautifully balanced performance on which Søndergård and the strings exquisitely complemented the soprano’s richly textured singing and theatrical flair, making each of the 10 songs an engrossing short story or miniature opera.

The lyrics are rooted in the poetry of Arthur Rimbaud, and Bullock created her own translation from the French that shone on the wall behind her. Displaying power and subtlety throughout her ample range — especially in the lower end — Bullock sang of sobs and howls, playful public chatter, surreal cityscapes and a farewell that bore the touching tones of accepting a life’s inevitable conclusion.

She was magnetic throughout, bringing out the beauty in Britten’s lines while the strings skillfully supported her every emotional twist and turn.

The evening opened with a Minnesota Orchestra premiere a century-plus in the making. English composer Dorothy Howell wrote her tone poem, “Lamia,” in 1919 (at the age of 21), but nothing from her pen has appeared on this orchestra’s programs until this weekend. First impressions are that Howell was an exceptional orchestrator, tapping into the kind of lushness and use of engaging solos for which her countryman, Edward Elgar, is known.

Ah, but a sonic journey awaited the audience at the other end of the concert, where Mahler’s roughly hourlong First Symphony proved not only engrossing, but hypnotic, exhilarating and ultimately explosive. Søndergård seemed in command of the interpretation from its mystical opening on through its bubbly country dances, mesmerizing funeral march and a finale full of whiplash-inducing swings of mood and volume level.

And Søndergård pushed the piece’s extremes to the forefront, aided by some outstanding ensemble work from various sections of the orchestra (particular kudos to the eight French horns) and one admirable solo after another. If any regulars are wondering what composers will bring out the best in Søndergård and the orchestra, it seems that you can add Mahler to the list. And maybe Britten, too.

With: Conductor Thomas Søndergård and soprano Julia Bullock

What: Works by Dorothy Howell, Benjamin Britten and Gustav Mahler

When: 7 p.m. Sat.

Where: Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Mpls.

Tickets: $41-$111, 612-371-5656 or minnesotaorchestra.org

Rob Hubbard can be reached at wordhub@yahoo.com.