Drop whatever you're doing and buy tickets to the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra's Saturday-night program, in which the orchestra will again perform with the Eastman Chorale and the Eastman-Rochester Chorus for Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 in c minor ("the Resurrection Symphony") and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel's cantata "Hiob" (Job).

Even without the organ called for by the score, Mahler's Resurrection Symphony is huge. On Thursday night the stage was packed with musicians, including five percussionists with no less than two sets of kettle drums, bass drums, gongs, cymbals, and chimes. The first few theater rows were packed with the Eastman-Rochester Chorus. And Arild Remmereit, conductor, swiveled 360 degrees with a diva to his stage left and stage right.

The elements that all clicked into gear, abruptly, as of the fourth movement, made the rest of the symphony gripping and exciting, and so very Mahler. The performance had been going well. Then, the fourth movement opened with mezzo-soprano Ashley Hill. Hill was spellbinding. She sang the German lyrics with such depth of feeling that you could feel what translates as "Man lies in deepest need, Man lives in deepest pain, Oh how I would rather live in heaven."

By the latter half of the fifth movement, when the Eastman-Rochester Chorus and Rebecca Farley Witty, soprano, began to sing, the theater was transformed. At first, the chorus, made up of ESM students and community members, was singing while sitting, their backs to the audience. At just the right juncture, the chorus stood, and at just the right moment, the chorus turned to face the audience. This bit of unusual staging resulted in a natural amplification process that crescendoed the chorus with the soloists and orchestra for a triumphant finale.

For Saturday's second and final performance, the RPO has to take the first three movements to the heights it now knows it can reach in the final two movements. The opening sixteenth notes must become as precise and clean as if they were single notes upon a harpsichord. The transition for every tempo change must be definite. Ritardandos (purposeful slowing down), followed by a tempo (at tempo) should have everyone following the conductor in the first beat. While the ending is an epiphany, the whole symphony is Mahler's expression of the journey of man. From the first notes, the RPO needs to express our common humanity.

Thursday's concert opened beautifully with "Hiob" (Job), a short work by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (Felix's sister). Her music is so distinctly female, with warm chord progressions and fullness of sound. It reflects the period of the early 1800's without the detachment and angular structures of many of her contemporaries. This piece was a first for the RPO and part of Remmereit's quest to "make new classics."

"Hiob" included the Eastman Chorale, comprised of students from the Eastman School of Music, who were absolutely fantastic. Their articulation was clear, their pronunciation excellent. The piece was a good match to both the RPO and the Eastman Chorale.

So I suppose that if there is any bit of bad news that I have to convey from tonight's concert, it goes out to Charlie Owens, president and CEO of the RPO, and to the Board of Directors. Big work + big success = big budget. The Mahler alone was an added $40,000, as City earlier reported from its interview with Owens. Judging from the smiles on Remmereit's face tonight as the audience gave a long-sustained standing ovation, I suspect he is already dreaming of the bigger things to come.

The RPO performs the same program Saturday, October 22, at 8 p.m. at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theater. Visit the RPO website for more information.