Guest conductor Jaap van Zweden, CSO thrill in shattering performance of Mahler’s Sixth

Two ear-splitting hammer-blows added stunning, almost supernatural power to the final moments of Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 in the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s performance on April 25. With the expansive forces of 109 musicians on the stage of Music Hall, the Cincinnati Symphony’s performance of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony was as dramatic to watch as it was to hear. The rhythms of Mahler’s marches were sharply clipped, timpanists pounded, clarinets screeched, and nine horns lifted their bells. Guest…