CLASSICAL MUSIC REVIEW – April 2009
Review | Chorale's performance shows signs of progress
BY LAWRENCE A. JOHNSON
South Florida Classical Review.com
Joshua Habermann assumed the post of Master Chorale of South Florida artistic director last summer, and it has been intriguing to see
his influence on the self-governing ensemble, which is closing its season this weekend with an all-American program.
Progress was palpable at Friday night's opening performance at First Presbyterian Church in Pompano Beach. There is
a richer corporate sound and the massed tone is much more evenly distributed from top to bottom with no holes in the choral fabric. In
two challenging works, the singers performed with sensitivity, refined vocalism and dynamic subtlety.
Still, in Habermann's first season,
there remains room for improvement. Words were too often indistinct and consonants a sometime thing, particularly in the opening sections
of Morten Lauridsen's Lux Aeterna, which couldn't entirely be blamed on the noisy air-conditioning
and problematic acoustic. Also, possibly because the program drew a smaller crowd than usual, there was often a lack of dynamic tension
and live frisson in the performances, which at times had the relaxed feel of a rehearsal rather than the electricity of a live concert.
O Magnum Mysterium is likely the most performed choral work of any living composer, but the California-based
Lauridsen has written a host of other worthy music, so kudos to Habermann for giving us something different with Lux Aeterna.
Written
in 1997, the work is expansive in five connected sections and characteristic in its spiritual quality and sophisticated writing (the
inverted canon on fiat misericordia). Other Lauridsen works, including O Magnum Mysterium, surface from time to time here,
but Lux Aeterna is a fine piece in its own right, cast in Lauridsen's lyrical consolatory style.
Habermann led a spacious reading,
with the organ and harp judiciously balanced against the Chorale's vast body of singers. Again the Latin text was too often indecipherable,
and while the long lines of the central motet O Nata Lux were molded attentively by
Habermann there was sometimes a want of expressive detailing.
The joyous Veni, Sancte Spiritus was aptly fervent, however, and
the concluding Agnus Dei-Lux Aeterna beautifully done,
the sopranos set soaring on sempiternam, and the hushed Alleluia coda glowing and evenly sustained.
Few 20th century figures
present a more personal conflict between the sacred and profane than Leonard Bernstein in his music and his life. That dichotomy is evident
in Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, which, even with its passing shadows, remains one of the composer's
sunniest and most open-hearted works.
Habermann led the Chorale in an admirable performance, though the Hebrew text wasn't always clear and the unhinged joy of the opening
movement felt a bit too reined in.
The dissonant opening of the finale offered a showy opportunity for the church's magnificent 3,800-pipe
organ, well played by Christopher Harrell.
An encore of Bernstein's Make our Garden Grow for both the adult and children
choruses made a worthy encore and apt closer to
the Master Chorale's season
* * *
The Master Chorale of South Florida is South Florida’s premier classical choral ensemble. The talented singers volunteer their time for the satisfaction of performing the most challenging choral repertoire at the highest artistic level in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.
The Master Chorale of South Florida was formed to ensure that world-class concerts of major choral-orchestral works remain a part of South Florida’s cultural fabric. Through innovative programming, artistic passion, and superb performances of the greatest music ever written, the Master Chorale of South Florida strives to foster feelings of joy and excitement in the hearts of audiences.
Contact: Nancy Gates-Lee, 954-770-2805
