|
CONCERT REVIEW: Beethoven's Mass in C major was the featured work at the spring concert of the Orange County Classic Choral Society & Orchestra, and it proved to be a performance of religious music worthy of the master.
April 29, 2003
"The Three B's: Beethoven/Bach/Bernstein" is the title of the spring concert offered by the Orange County Classic Choral Society & Orchestra, but it is Beethoven who was the Big B at the program Sunday afternoon at the United Church of Christ in Blooming Grove. Two short pieces by Bernstein and Bach were no match for the overpowering presence of Beethoven's majestic Mass in C major.
Although it is overshadowed by the master's later "Missa Solemnis," this Mass is full of enough religious inspiration to fill the largest cathedral with glory and praise. Janiece Kohler's experienced direction reached new heights as her soloists, chorus and instrumentalists, more than 100 in number, performed with discipline and emotion.
The concert, to be repeated Saturday in Goshen, began with the first movement of Bernstein's "Chichester Psalms," one of his more successful efforts in the field of sacred music. Sung in Hebrew, it combines folk tunes, popular melody and tonal sonority. The first phrase from Psalm 108 sounds a wake-up call: "Awake, psaltery and harp!" Psalm 100 immediately announces "a joyful noise unto the Lord." With soprano Karen Ketcham, alto Kristine MacMillin, tenor James Zgoda and bass Robert Pollsen, the appeal to "Come before his presence with singing" sounded the perfect note for what followed.
Beethoven's Mass in C major also employs four soloists, but they perform as a quartet rather than as individual aria singers. Soprano Jody Weatherstone, alto Carol Bushell, tenor Rudolf Kellmann and baritone Michael Saunders each took a turn separately and together to weave a colorful tapestry. In the "Gloria," for example, each sang a phrase of petition and praise with clear conviction in a model of part singing.
In the Mass, after the majestic solemnity of the opening "Kyrie," the tutti blast of the "Gloria" springs without a pause on the listeners, and the first chords of the "Credo," tremulous and tentative, are followed by a confident confession of faith. The beautiful phrasing of the "Credo" of "light from light, true God from true God" sounded luminous, while the contrast between the thunderous "descended from heaven" and the tender "born of the virgin Mary" rang true. Even the words "living" and "dead" echoed the contrast of vibrancy and subdued resignation. Beethoven makes every word of the Mass seem new and inspired.
Only Bach could equal such inspiration but in his own original way. His Cantata No. 50 is charged with rhythmic shifts and tonal leaps with its victorious good news: "Now hath salvation and strength and the kingdom of God and the power of His Christ appeared." Singers and players joined in a final celebration of religious faith as voices and instruments found a firm balance in their combined "joyful noise unto the Lord."
Home Page | About Us | History | Alumni | Current Members | Personnel Profiles
|
