Salonen’s Passion, Control Uplift Mahler’s Third . . .

In some quarters, Esa-Pekka Salonen has his doubters. They say he’s too analytical, a technician lacking charm. They ask, where’s the passion?

They should have been at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion Thursday, when Salonen led the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Mahler’s Third Symphony. He laid it all on the line, successfully combining his penetrating analytical skills with a generous outpouring of emotion.

This orchestra and this conductor have a history with this work. Mahler’s Third used to be a much-performed specialty of Zubin Mehta. Salonen first nabbed international notice in 1983 when, subbing on short notice, he performed it with London’s Philharmonia Orchestra. .

Since then, these Mahler Third veterans have mounted the work often, and Thursday it sounded ripened to a peak. They will record it for Sony this week.

This is Mahler’s longest symphony, an hour and 40 minutes worth of music using a massive orchestra, women’s and boys’ choirs and alto soloist. It’s philosophical aspirations are mammoth as well, treating aspects of nature, Nietzsche and love.

Pacing is key, as is clarity and commitment. You can’t convincingly get through the finale, which Mahler titled “What love tells me,” without swallowing it and believing it whole. In all three areas, Salonen outdid himself.

He kept the argument moving decisively but knew when to ease off the gas. The middle movements had the delicacy and grace of Christmas carols. With his violin section split right and left, the sound opened up, sparkling and warm, as intricate and pixelated as a mosaic.

But it was Salonen’s warmth, his commitment to the musical content, that made the evening. Following the first movement, he actually had to sit down and rest a spell. The finale rose as steadily as a thermometer, from intense hush to joyous outpouring.

Swedish contralto Anna Larson contributed precise, sizably voiced solos, though she sang the fourth movement too loudly (Mahler marked it “softly throughout”). The Women of the Los Angeles Master Chorale and the Paulist Boy Choristers sang solidly. The Philharmonic followed its conductor’s expressive cue and performed with abandon. Trombonist Ralph Sauer and trumpeter Thomas Stevens headed a list of remarkable soloists.

It was Salonen’s night, though. Of that, no one can doubt.