Stanley Fefferman reviews The Royal Conservatory Orchestra Goes Big with Handel and Mahler in Koerner Hall

It was an evening of go big or go home. Koerner Hall is a world-class ‘acousticorium’. It has been praised for razor-sharp rendering of the sounds of soloists like guitarist John Williams, diva’s like Anne-Sofie von Otter and Dee Dee Bridgewater, Quartets like the Kronos and Takacs, chamber orchestras such as the 28 strings of Gergiev’s Stradivarius Ensemble. Last night, this discrete hall was called upon to handle two titanic affairs: the Music for the Royal Fireworks, HWV 351 by Handel, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 in D Major. READ THE FULL REVIEW.