Da Bearcat sez: That Mahler Nine the Oregon Symphony is doing? It’s aces, my fine scatter friends, aces. If you are in the money, give them a call, tell them Art Scatter sent you (that will definitely confuse them), secure tickets (the upper balcony is great for sound and cheaper), prepare for 80 minutes/no intermission (you know what I’m talking about) and settle in for a finely detailed account of Mahler’s last completed symphony. The symphony couldn’t play this way before Kalmar arrived, with this sort of energy and attention, enough to keep something like this interesting second by second. And Mahler in a transition state — on the brink of modern art, on the brink of death (at least he thought he was), on the brink of leaving Europe for New York — is pretty involving stuff. More scatter thoughts on this at a later date…