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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. (Courtesy image)
Today is Halloween, a holiday that’s preoccupied with the dead (and undead). Tomorrow is Dia de los Muertos (”Day of the Dead”).
So it’s only fitting that the San Diego Symphony’s latest program - to be repeated tonight and tomorrow — features Mozart’s Requiem, a Requiem being the Mass for the Dead.
But don’t get the wrong idea. There’s nothing lugubrious or off-putting. Quite the opposite.
As music director Jahja Ling conducted the orchestra, vocal soloists and San Diego Master Chorale in last night’s involving Copley Symphony Hall performance, the accent was on uplift and affirmation. Though the Requiem is Mozart’s final work, dating from 1791, the year he died, the message - and the music - transcend death to provide a timeless consolation and beauty.
Listening to the exquisite interplay between voices and instruments, whether in duets, quartets or choral passages, it struck me that Mozart’s Requiem is a kind of spiritualized opera, opera elevated for a lofty purpose.
Only the composer of “Cosi Fan Tutte,” “Don Giovanni” and “The Magic Flute” could have achieved such orchestral and vocal mastery in the Kyrie. Only a true man of the theater, as Mozart surely was, could have created so much drama in the harrowing “Confutatis.”
Mozart died without completing the work, leaving that task to others, including his student, Francis Xaver Süssmayr. (Forget what happens in “Amadeus” - Mozart’s arch-rival Antonio Salieri wasn’t involved in death-bed dictations.) Conductor Ling is using the Süssmayr Edition because, as he puts it, “he even helped the dying composer to write his notes onto manuscript paper, so, logically, it is probably the closest version to being authentic.”
Lasting approximately 50 minutes, not including commentator Nuvi Mehta’s introduction, the Requiem is too short to be the only work on the symphony’s program. So there were two others.
During its most rousing moments last night, Wagner’s “Prelude to Act III of ‘Lohengrin’” was a musical thrill ride that got its thrust from the high-powered contributions of the San Diego Symphony’s trumpets, trombones, French horns and tuba.
Less appealing, at least to my ears, is Bruch’s somewhat ponderous Violin Concerto No. 2. Yet instead of getting mired in the swampy excesses of 19th-century German romanticism, symphony concertmaster Jeff Thayer succeeded in rising above them. His playing - clean, lean and confident - attained a rather elegant virtuosity that received cohesive support from Ling and the orchestra.
Still, Mozart’s Requiem was clearly the highlight.
The orchestra played well under Ling’s energetically reliable guidance and the chorus was attentive to phrasing and dynamics. (Balance between the male and female voices was occasionally an issue, however, because there were more women than men.)
Mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke. (Photo courtesy of the San Diego Symphony)
The soloists were well chosen. Soprano Jessica Rivera had a lovely, supple tone (though vowels triumphed a bit too often over consonants). Mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke was outstanding, with adroit phrasing and a richly burnished timbre that was intriguingly distinctive.
Tenor Thomas Cooley had a decidedly operatic flair — not surprising considering his background in Mozart operas. Particularly powerful was the “Tuba Mirum,” showcasing bass-baritone Jason Grant and principal trombonist Kyle Covington. Grant produced such an impressively robust sound that I confess to being startled that such a big, deep voice could come from someone so trim and youthful.
It was just one more reason to admire this “Requiem.”
Event info: The concert will be repeated at 8 p.m. on October 31 and 2 p.m. on November 1 at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., downtown. Tickets/information: (619) 235-0804; www.sandiegosymphony.com
Valerie Scher is the SDNN Arts & Entertainment editor. You can reach her at valerie.scher(at)sdnn.com; follow her on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/vscher
Tags: Amadeus, Antonio Salieri, Copley Symphony Hall, Jacobs' Masterworks, Jahja Ling, Jeff Thayer, Kyle Covington, Mozart, Mozart's Requiem, Nuvi Mehta, review Mozart Requiem, review San Diego Symphony, San Diego Master Chorale, San Diego Symphony, SDNN, Valerie Scher
Comment by: Mark M Posted: October 31, 2009, 4:38 pm
I attended the concert and I was quite impressed. All the singers were wonderful, to my ears. I’d heard the requiem a number of times on recordings but have never heard one in person. A glorious experience. Sort of like church is supposed to be, only fun.
Comment by: john S Posted: October 31, 2009, 8:06 pm
I beg to differ. The mezzo and tenor were quite good, but the soprano and bass almost ruined the evening with their excessive vibrato -completely out of control- and their tendency to slow down things. Stylistically, they were definitely out of their league.
I was pleasantly surprised by Jahja Ling though who -contrary to my fears- is not oblivious to the HIP movement and the huge progress it brought in the interpretation of Mozart. Tempi were good, and the orchestra had a Mozartean quality to it (except of the few intonation problems in the Benedictus and elsewhere). What was missing is the edge that historical instruments can bring (like the brass and winds) and the overall ultimate involvement of the orchestra and chorus. Indeed it seems to me that when you beg God to save you from eternal damnation you’ve got to put a little bit more guts into it… Listening to this piece should not be “only fun” at all.
Comment by: Dawood Posted: November 17, 2009, 2:17 am
his music is out of mind!!
and it’s not just my opinion.
..check what famous peers said on Mozart:
http://www.tributespaid.com/quotes-on/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart