Too many lapses into pretentiousness

Mahler’s Tenth is getting close to losing its asterisk. A spate of recent recordings has helped propel what used to be known merely as fragments of what might have become Mahler’s last completed symphony into a holding pattern around the standard symphonic repertoire. Enrique Arturo Diemecke and the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra added to this trend Saturday night with a full performance of the unfinished opus.

Mahler is something of an obsession with Diemecke. Last season, he changed the orchestra’s schedule to close with the composer’s First Symphony, and he will close next year with the Ninth. Before the concert, he spoke passionately about the Tenth: its anticipation of Stravinsky and Schonberg, and how it represents Mahler looking back from beyond the grave.

There are indeed rich passages in Mahler’s final musical sketches (as completed by British musicologist Deryck Cooke), and Diemecke brought out the best in his Long Beach players for these moments. The violins consistently produced both tension and elegant tones -- and special mention must by given to the flute soloist in the Finale. Unfortunately, these moments add up to about 30 minutes of genuine-sounding Mahler.

The orchestra and conductor should be commended for trying to breathe vitality into the rest of the score. But not even the finest playing can raise the other 50 minutes above what must be politely referred to as “Mahler- esque” tribute music.

What draws modern conductors to this patchwork piece is the chance to give it their own stamp. Diemecke replaced the military drum called for in all versions of the score with a large wooden box that was struck with a hammer. This was supposed to link the “three blows of fate” from the Sxith Symphony -- the “Tragic” -- with the personal suffering of Mahler’s final days. What it actually did was create a pretentious theatrical effect.

Diemecke’s dramatic flare has endeared him to Long Beach audiences this season, but let’s hope it doesn’t become the emphasis of his tenure. A crisp and balanced interpretation of Mozart’s “Jupiter” Symphony kicked off the evening and proved that the orchestra doesn’t need gimmicks to make music that’s worth listening to.