by Ken Hoover
The North Carolina Master Chorale Chamber Choir gave a clinic in masterful
choral singing at the Kenan Recital Hall, Peace College, Raleigh, on
Tuesday evening, May 24. The program of all Italian music was introduced
by Director Alfred Sturgis as an evening beginning with Italian communion
bread and wine (church music), followed after intermission with pasta
(some tasty madrigals), and with two Rossini part-songs for dessert.
Though it seemed a bit outrageous at the time, his characterization
was on the money at the end.
The first half was all music written for the church, but not just any
church – the program included works written for St. Mark's in
Venice, the Papal Chapel in Rome, and for Naples, Florence, and Milan,
centers of renaissance art that were pilgrimage destinations for the
world throughout the mid-16th to mid-17th centuries. Most of the pieces
chosen for this part of the concert were pretty basic and fairly familiar – works
by G. Gabrieli, Palestrina, Scarlatti, Lotti, Pergolesi, Carissimi
and Martini were presented in chronological order, mostly. College
or even high school choirs perform them, and I have sung all but one
of them myself. They were all done superbly, and the introductory commentary
by Sturgis added understanding and pleasure to each one. Lotti's "Crucifixus" was
exquisite, its delicious dissonance melting into resolution under the
fluid and precise baton of the conductor. The women of the chorus sang
two selections from Pergolesi's Stabat Mater with extraordinary piano
accompaniment by Susan Lohr. You could almost hear violins in her sensitive
piano playing, and the choir sang those minor seconds sliding against
each other so beautifully that the pain of Mary watching the pain of
her Son was almost too much.
Another selection that deserves some special attention is "Plotate
Filii Israel" from Carissimi's oratorio Jephtha. It was done with
organ accompaniment and mostly in homophonic style until near the end,
where the chorus repeats in imitative phrases "sing your song
of sorrow." This is one of those tragic tales (in the Old Testament)
that involves making a bargain; it ends up with Jephtha taking the
life of his daughter.
After a rousing performance of Martini's "Domine, ad adjuvandum
me festina" (we are definitely in the Baroque here), Sturgis pointed
out this would have been a fine ending to the first half, but there
was more – from the romantic era. Verdi's "Ave Maria," one
of the Four Sacred Pieces, was not written as a church work but is
often thought of and performed as such. It is based on an idiomatic
scale offered as a challenge in an Italian music magazine. Verdi composed
a sensitive and beautiful devotional piece, richly harmonized and remarkably
effective. The "Amen" at the end was sung so perfectly that
it left me yearning to savor it longer but, alas, applause broke my
reverie and the first half of the concert was over.
We must mention a couple of highlights of the second half of the concert.
The music of Carlo Gesualdo always amazes contemporary audiences. Gesualdo
was a nobleman, wealthy in his own right and therefore not beholden
to patrons, the church, or the public. The music he wrote – apparently
only for his own artistic gratification – is amazingly modern
and experimental, with jolting key shifts, jarring dissonance and other
daring maneuvers. His madrigal "Moro lasso" contains all
the above while at the same time brilliantly expressing the words of
the text.
Two 20th-century madrigals by Ildebrando Pizzetti (1880-1968) found
their way into the program through Sturgis's research, and they rewarded
the audience tremendously. Rich harmony, expressive text painting,
and knowledgeable use of vocal capabilities produced sweet pleasure.
I would love to hear more of this composer.
The concert closed with a couple of showpieces, presumably written
as salon entertainments by the semi-retired Rossini in his later years – "I
Gondolieri" (The Gondoliers) and "La Passegiata" (The
Excursion). They were both delicious. Imagine The Barber of Seville compressed into about five minutes of pure sparkles! The chorus relished
the pleasure of these pieces, but the star of the show was Lohr and
her absolutely incredible piano performance. She was all over the keyboard
with everything from gentle arpeggios to Rossini ump-pah-pah vamps
to full-hand runs so fast I thought only a computerized piano could
do them. The audience gave her an ovation after "The Gondoliers" that
required her to get up from the piano three times to acknowledge the
continued applause. I am still overwhelmed when I think about it.
The NCMC Chamber Choir was outstanding; it was remarkably at home with
the Italian and the Latin, precise with both pitch and rhythm, and
artistically at a peak that raises the bar for all area choral organization.
Of course this is an ensemble of 22 singers, handpicked from the larger
chorale, and not every chorus can attract this level of talent. Neither
do many groups have a maestro like Al Sturgis at the helm.
Let me end with a personal note about the power of music
in general and of great singing in particular. I went to this event
quite worn
out and in a bit of a sour mood, but I left it energized and invigorated!
It was just that kind of concert. That said, I wish weekday programs
were scheduled at 7:00 or maybe 7:30 p.m. Those who enjoy dining
out after concerts are often hard-pressed to find good places open
late
on weeknights. Then, too, there are those with work or classes the
next day. In this case we found our favorite pub still open, and
all was well – but earlier starts make sense to me!
