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By Patrick Valentino
Providence, RI; 6 March 2010. Tonight at the Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium was a varied concert presented by the Providence Singers, the Rhode Island Children’s Chorus, a quartet of soloists (Bonnie Pomfret, Emily Marvosh, Charles Blandy and David Kravitz), members of the Rhode Island Philharmonic, and guest instrumentalists. The program, consisting of works by Arvo Pärt, Thomas Tallis, Dan Locklair and Benjamin Britten, concluded with Mozart’s monumental Requiem.
The program was varied yet coherent, at least each of the halves to itself. It seems that the Requiem is what was used to get tickets sold, yet the concept of the first half of the evening (a de facto tribute to Britten) was intriguing and musically rewarding in its own right, and perhaps could have been developed into a full concert. However, the strong performances throughout the evening, coupled with the still-strange concept of a chorus concert to modern ears, allowed the evening to work, even though in hindsight it seemed as if one had heard two halves of different concerts.
The first of these demi-performances was a splendid, well-conceived and well-executed tribute to the musical language and tradition of Benjamin Britten. The concert opened, surprisingly enough, with the choirs sitting in silence while the orchestra intoned Arvo Pärt’s Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten. The short meditation for strings and a solo chime, indicating Britten’s presence, was a very effective way to start the evening off, however. The small orchestra realized Pärt’s throbbing melodies and complex textures with surety, clarity, and heart.
Next up was the RI Children’s Chorus, singing Glory to thee, my God, this night by 16th century composer Thomas Tallis. Perhaps the progenitor of the English sacred choral tradition and undeniably a huge influence on Britten, Tallis was well-presented by the group of young female voices. Singing in unison and simple harmony with clear, impeccable intonation, and crystalline pronunciation, the Chorus performed admirably, from memory. The only issue was that of projection; the choir was often covered up by the chamber orchestra, even at times when the strings were obviously making extreme effort to maintain a strict pianissimo. This might have been the acoustics of the auditorium, though, as the chorus was placed far behind the orchestra. Its strengths would be better showcased in a more intimate setting.
As Tallis influenced Britten, so did Britten influence Dan Locklair in his setting of North Carolina poet Fred Cappell’s introspective post-9/11 work The Attending, entitled Stirring the Silence. Locklair’s gift for idiomatic vocal scoring and his very Brittenesque seeking of complexity through simplicity were all evident in this impressive work for chamber orchestra and mixed chorus. The Providence Singers managed well the often ‘harder-than-it-sounds’ passages of explosive vocal color; their grasp of the work artistically led to a very convincing interpretation, although occasional pitch issues in the men’s sections were evident. An altogether commendable performance, the one complaint I found ringing in my head after, and during, the work was an exceeding rare one: I wanted it to be longer. Although I wasn’t timing it, it seems Stirring the Silence clocked in at about the standard major-choir-piece-length of 8-12 minutes. In this short time Locklair fits all 24 full lines of text, as well as allows time for short orchestral interludes. Listening to the piece, I sensed it was some wonderful vocal writing, but reading the poem, I would have liked to have lingered more on some of Campbell’s rich, evocative verses. The poem is a dense, multi-layered introspection on as mammoth a scale as the intimate can be, and at times the words seemed like they flew out of the mouths of the choir and were gone forever.
Closing the first half, appropriately, was Cantata Misericordium by Britten himself. A setting in Latin of the parable of the Good Samaritan for tenor and bass soloists, chorus, and orchestra, the large, yet free-flowing work was a satisfying culmination of all that came before. In it, Mr. Blandy and Mr. Kravitz both lent sincere emotion and occasional vocal fireworks to the demanding roles of the Samaritan and the ill-fated traveler, respectively. The concept of a 20th century cantata is intriguing. Britten’s work, composed in 1963, retains the genre’s elements, telling a story in short musical vignettes with a combination of orchestral, chorus and soloists, while employing a modern compositional language which makes it stand out all the more in the modern musical landscape.
On the second half of the concert Ms. Pomfret and Ms. Marvosh joined the two male soloists, choir, and orchestra for Mozart’s beloved Requiem. The choir was exceptional; the tuning issues of the first half had completely disappeared and they performed the, albeit more familiar, fare with confidence, power, and grace. In fact, only very slight details occasionally distracted from the overall presentation of the piece, which was on the whole very well done. I had loved to hear the trio of trombones enter in the Introitus will full voice, as often one hears the entrance played too “nicely”. However, I did not expect Andrew Clark, the music director, to have them continue playing colle parte throughout the entire 45 minute work.
Since Mozart famously left the piece unfinished and various versions and traditions exist, it should be mentioned that it is popular to have the trombones perform exactly as they had, that is, basically non-stop with the choir. In my own opinion it waters down their effectiveness and limits the color pallet of the orchestra, which could be enhanced by having them only play at key moments, the Rex Tremendae, for example. That being said, all of the trombones were exceptional, and the Tuba Mirum solo particularly so, with its long lines, effortless high notes and shimmering pianissimos.
The soloists all performed with color and confidence, but the tenor Mr. Blandy deserves special recognition. His sound was round, yet intimate, and most importantly warm, which lent a certain grace to a part too often screeched by tinny tenors. With Mr. Blandy, there was no tin, but tone. Mr. Kravitz and Ms. Marvosh did commendably as well, although the latter took a few too many liberties with the part than my ears cared to hear, instead of letting Mozart’s simple lyricism govern the line. The soprano Ms. Pomfret had a nice warm voice like Mr. Blandy, but far too much vibrato for a piece such as the Requiem. Surprisingly enough, the quartet blended very well together and with the Choir, which is also quite rare and very satisfying.
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