There is no better way to introduce an orchestra than with the sleigh bells and skipping rhythms of Mahler’s Fourth – the strings, woodwinds and brass all get to announce themselves in what must be the most joyful opening of any symphony in the repertoire.

It’s also the ideal way to launch a rare concert that features not only one but two of the Bohemian composer’s great works – the Fourth and Fifth of his 10 symphonies which, in his words, “must be like a world. It must embrace everything.”

Last year the Australian World Orchestra was stripped back to chamber proportions for its annual concert, featuring German countertenor Andreas Scholl in the ACO’s Neilson, with Artistic Director and conductor Alexander Briger sitting in the audience.

This year is something completely different. More than 100 musicians file on stage in the more familiar surroundings of Sydney Opera House’s Concert Hall with Briger on the rostrum, conducting both works from memory. 

Alexander Briger and the Australian World Orchestra. Photo © Daniel Boud

What was immediately apparent is the rich and polished string tone of a band which draws its all-Australian members from the world’s top orchestras, including the Gewandhaus, Berlin Philharmoniker and London Symphony. Briger and his troops, led in the first half by Rebecca Chan, evoke a feeling of childlike wonder as the Fourth’s first movement unfolds, Paul Dean’s clarinet bobbing and weaving and being handsomely answered by Andrew Bain’s burnished horn.

Briger sets a brisk pace – a recording I have by André Previn sounds positively pedestrian by comparison. Bracing as it is, it is never hurried and there is plenty of judicious rubato, at one point almost too much until he pulls the orchestra back from going over the edge.

Briger is also alive to the dynamics of the work, muting the volume to a pin-drop whisper before the first movement’s triumphant finale.

Chan swaps violins for the “Devil’s fiddle” opening of the second movement, this instrument tuned higher than normal, giving the music a slightly menacing folk-like feeling.

The pivotal long third movement, marked Ruhevoll (Peacefully) in the score, is adroitly managed, the cellos and violas building beautifully over its slow pulse to the miraculous transition to a part carefree, part anguished passage before peace returns.

Sarah Traubel and the Australian World Orchestra. Photo © Daniel Boud

As it builds to its crashing climax, German soprano Sarah Traubel makes a fairytale entrance in a shimmering powder-blue dress with her blonde hair piled back. Despite a slightly hoarse opening she soon warms to her task, imbuing the Wunderhorn song Das himmlische Leben with a sense of childlike wonder.

The second half brings a change of mood and concertmaster – Daniel Dodds leading with typical dynamism and precision. In dramatic contrast to the Fourth, Mahler takes us to darker places with his Fifth and Lukas Beno’s trumpet solo sets in motion the shattering funeral march of the opening movement.

Three trombones and a tuba – missing from the other symphony – add enormous heft to the six horns and four trumpets and a percussion section boasting five musicians.

The woodwinds are superb and the string sound throughout is equal to any I have heard.

The panicky start of the second movement, with Dodds lurching from side to side in his chair, finally gives way to the positivity of the trumpets and horns as the storm dies.

Alexander Briger and the Australian World Orchestra. Photo © Daniel Boud

Briger lends a light-footed swing to the Scherzo, which features some fine soloing from Bain, his horn tilted on its side for maximum impact, the Ländler passages including some deft pizzicato before it builds to a menacing waltz.

The Adagietto – Mahler’s best-known nine minutes – is exquisite, the tempo and string tone just right accompanied by harpist Alice Giles, and the joyful emergence into the sunlight of the final bars of the Rondo lifts the roof off, bringing the audience to its feet like a rippling Mexican wave around the auditorium.