Soprano Mikaela Bennett, Maestro Ted Sperling, and Baritone Justin Austin
The MasterVoices Chorus and the Orchestra of Saint Luke's
(Photo by Erin Baiano)
It was an unusual evening and one that was very well received by a huge crowd of fans filling up Alice Tully Hall. Recent renovations put a pipe organ on display with Orchestra of St. Luke's organist Matthew Lewis having the time of his life. Other members of OSL included a sole violin among a generous string section, and winds comprising a pair of bassoons, a pair of horns, a pair of percussionists and (our favorite) an angelic harp.
Our overall impression of Fauré's Requiem in D Minor is that it is a kinder gentler work than other requiems we have heard. The "wrath of God" and dire warnings are absent and it seems more a lullaby sending the departed off to a restful repose. It was indeed performed at Fauré's death and we hope he is enjoying a richly deserved peaceful sleep!
The composer began work on the piece in 1888 and revised it several times until 1900. We lack the knowledge to identify which version we heard but it was a satisfying one with the massive voices of MasterVoices singing the seven movements, ending with Fauré's unique "In Paradisum" sending the departed one off to paradise. The orchestration gave lots of attention to the horns which blared in as stentorian fashion as trumpets. However, we were most taken with the harp, played by the appropriately named Grace Paradise!
Strangely, Fauré gave the vocal soloists little to do and, since we are great fans of soprano Mikaela Bennett and baritone Justin Austin, we felt a bit disappointed to see them sitting there for a half hour with only small parts.
The second piece on the program made up for that, giving the two artists some interesting and challenging texts which were unfortunately amplified to the point of muddying the clever words. Far be it from us to sit and read from the program during a performance; we wished that titles had been projected. Upon returning home we read the libretto and realized what we had missed.
Maestro Ted Sperling came up with the incredibly clever idea for Seven: a Cycle of Sins, putting the seven deadly sins up for grabs, so to speak, allowing a herd of contemporary composers to "choose their own sin". Each one contributed something in his own voice. Most notable (if only because we were very recently introduced to his music) was the "Envy" of Jason Robert Brown. Voices overlapped in a manner reminiscent of Stephen Sondheim. Mr. Brown's comments pointedly referred to his failure to achieve entrance into Juilliard and he did so in the wittiest fashion.
On the other hand Ted Hearne's gloss on "Greed" employed a boring political text relating to the Occupy Movement. This reminded us of the contemporary operas we dismiss as polemic.
Michael Abels illustrated "Lust" with a brief recreation of lovemaking sounds culminating in orgasm. This was so direct that it may well have achieved the status of audience favorite. "Love to Love You Baby", recorded by Donna Summer and released in 1975, accomplished great popularity but was banned by several radio stations. Apparently "classical music" performed in a concert hall can get away with things that popular recordings cannot.
The superb composer Gregory Spears took the easy way out and illustrated the sin of "Vanity" with a lengthy quote from Ecclesiastes. Heather Christian's take on "Wrath" used similarly wordy text.
Composer/lyricist team of William C. Banfield and Michael R. Jackson got philosophical about politics in "Sloth", perhaps a too heavy a burden with its wordy unsingable argument. The team of Will Aronson and Dolan Morgan undertook to illustrate "Gluttony" by an argument between "Everything in the World" and "People", another wordy discussion.
There is an eighth deadly sin folks, and no one ever speaks about it. That is the sin of "Acedia"--apathy and despondency--whih seems to be afflicting our culture today. Who wants to write a song about it?
You may have gathered by now, Dear Reader, that we vote for "Lust". It was short, sweet, and direct. Lyrics that are wordy and deep, in our opinion, belong on the printed page.
That being said, Sterling's idea was an interesting one; giving composers carte blanche led to some curious offerings. When someone brings up The Seven Deadly Sins, we will no longer be thinking of the Kurt Weill opera/ballet but we will be thinking of Sterling's commission. Will it be performed again? Will it become part of the vocal canon? What do you think Dear Reader?
© meche kroop
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