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LA Master Chorale Perform Uplifting Season Opening Concert Los Angeles
Walt Disney Concert Hall
10/16/2011 -
Thomas Jennefelt: Music for a Big Church; for tranquility
Eric Whitacre: Her Sacred Spirit Soars
Tarik O’Regan: Tal vez tenemos tiempo (*)
Shawn Kirchner: Heavenly Home: Three American Songs
Morten Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna
Paul Meier (organ), Los Angeles Master Chorale, Grant Gershon, Lesley Leighton (*) (conductor)
G. Gershon (© Alex J. Berliner/ABImages)
The Los Angeles Master Chorale opened its 2011 season featuring works by living composers. The more emotional and thematic threads binding the program together were those of heaven and the afterlife with Morton Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna as the cornerstone of the evening. While not flawless, the varied program was convincingly performed by the chorale under the steady and confident leadership of Grant Gershon.
The evening began with the U.S. premiere of Swedish composer Thomas Jennefelt’s Music for a Big Church; for tranquility. At first sound, the piece could be confused for a Phillip Glass work with an undulating, neutral vowel comprising the minimalist texture. The listener wouldn’t be faulted for feeling forward propulsion rather than tranquility. Still, the texture is hypnotic, and is soon interrupted by open, sustained, organ-like sonorities, robustly sung by the men. The singers displayed impressive intonation and rhythmic precision. Maestro Gershon ably navigated the complex meters and gave an emotional arc to the piece. The Chorale’s fine performance took the piece from the realm of atmospheric music to that of dramatic and narrative music, which finally ended in a stunningly soothing open sonority.
From the minimalistic to the lyrical, Eric Whitacre’s Her Sacred Spirit Soars was the most inspiring and assured performance of the evening. The chorale’s diction of Silvestri’s sonnet was impeccable and impassioned. Their singing of Whitacre’s ascending, arching phrases was beautifully executed and the canonic texture clear as could be. Gershon did an admirable job of containing the forces until the climax of the piece venerating the eternal muse with an appropriately organic and spontaneous-seeming exultation. The singers’ affection for the piece and its meaning was apparent and infectious. If ever there were a piece perfectly suited to this group of musicians, this would be it.
Contrasting with the former piece, the most arcane performance of the evening was of Tarik O’Regan’s Tal vez tenemos tiempo. Pablo Neruda’s humanistic Spanish-language poem is formidable in length, but moving in content as a call to universal justice. Conducted by newly-minted LA Master Chorale Associate Conductor Lesley Leighton, the interpretation was oddly detached with little emotional impetus in dynamic contrasts. It was vocally well executed, but the nuance and imperative of the text was missing and made for a performance that could have been more affecting.
Still, the first half ended in resounding fashion with three American Folk Songs. Shawn Kirchner’s Heavenly Home features infectious, brilliantly arranged tunes that, like the Whitacre, highlighted the Chorale’s brilliant narrative skills. Sung with gusto, bordering on suitable rawness from the sopranos, the performers and arranger made something truly special on stage. Of course, such chemistry is well-founded as Kirchner is a long-time member of the tenor section. The arrangements are unfussy, yet appropriately challenging and great additions to the repertoire.
Lauridsen’s masterpiece Lux Aeterna, brought the evening to a close in an uplifting fashion. Maestro Gershon led an urgent reading of the piece, with securely beautiful singing from all involved. “O Nata Lux” was particularly stunning with some angelic soprano timbres that were suitably comforting and warm. The only trouble with the piece was the pairing with organ. Paul Meier’s playing was not as rhythmically assured or unfettered as the chorale’s singing came across, and the massive pipes of the Disney Hall organ did not convey the intimacy and subtlety that can be achieved in the orchestral arrangement. Transitions were often abrupt and there was never a true ensemble achieved between the chorale and organ. This could very well have been due to the proximity of sound between the pipes and chorale who were down on center stage. Nevertheless, the LA Master Chorale demonstrated they are the epitome of what a choir should sound like; overall, it was an inspired program that allowed the Chorale to display its versatility and exemplary communicative skills while singing with a full-bodied, natural and warm sound. Surely, Lauridsen himself, who received an enthusiastic curtain call at the conclusion, would agree as much.
Matthew Martinez
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