Home  Entertainment Reviews NMSO-Verdi Requiem Review
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NMSO-Verdi Requiem Review |
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Written by D.S. Crafts
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Saturday, 18 February 2006 |
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Despite its name the Requiem of Giuseppe Verdi is inherently and expressively a dramatic work. Regardless of his status as an Italian national icon, Verdi was not a religious man. He was fundamentally a man of the theater and knew well how to manipulate an audience in the opera house. Those skills carried over to this work for the concert hall as well. This weekend the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra mounted a powerful and beautifully-wrought performance of this work, employing full chorus and an outstanding cast of soloists. Music Director Guillermo Figueroa who often seems to prefer brisk tempos was in no hurry whatsoever, and in a carefully-sculpted reading allowed each facet of the story its full measure.
The work began serenely, even angelically, with chorus and orchestra in silvery pianissimo, building gradually and methodically to the stentorian outcry of Kyrie eleison (Lord have mercy) by tenor Stephen Mark Brown. The mixture of thrill and terror of the Dies Irae (Day of wrath) came thundering forth filling the auditorium with orchestra and 80-voice chorus at its loudest possible. From the podium Figueroa, like Thor, hurled lightning bolts in the form of brass and drums. In the Tuba mirum (Wondrous sound of the trumpet) trumpets placed in the balcony answered those on stage to create an authentic “surround-sound” putting the audience smack dab in the middle of a sea of sonority. Following yet another vehement climax, bass-baritone Zheng Zhou[cq] held us spell-bound changing the mood entirely with the quiet intensity of Mors stupebit et natura (Death is struck and nature quaking). Zhou’s silky-smooth voice, so memorable here last season in Boito’s Mefistofele, was again dramatically impressive and a joy to listen to. Recordare, Jesu pie (Think, kind Jesu) brought the two female soloists into duet with Figueroa giving them room to explore the melodic line. Often given out of context in tenor recitals, Ingemisco (Guilty now), an offering of sincere emotion from Brown, was followed by Zhou’s vivid reading of the Confutatis (When the wicked are confounded). Puerto Rican Yali-Marie Williams[cq] sounds for all the world like a true Verdi soprano with ringing top notes. One could easily hear her as, say, Leonora in Il Trovatore. Her signal outbursts in the final Libera me (Deliver me) especially, capped a shining performance all round. Mezzo-soprano Judith Engel was at her strongest in the Lux aeterna (Eternal light) leading the ensemble with effective introductions. Operatic voices, even the greatest, do not necessarily blend together. This group, however, achieved a pleasing ensemble even when unaccompanied. The full chorus, prepared by Roger Melone, impressively traversed the very limits of dynamics. Verdi, always one to know a good thing when he found it, could not resist bringing back the mighty theme of the Dies Irae in the final movement, followed by a reprise of the serene opening music, at length bringing to a close this colorfully descriptive musical tour of the spiritual underworld.
WHAT: New Mexico Symphony Orchestra presents Verdi’s Requiem
WHEN: 2 p.m. Sun., February 19 WHERE: Albuquerque Journal Theatre at the National Hispanic Cultural Center HOW MUCH: $18- $57 at the NHCC box office or Ticketmaster outlets
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About Reviewers D.S. Crafts (Website) Composer Daniel Steven Crafts came to New Mexico from San Francisco where he had hosted a classical music radio program on KPFA. His first commission from opera star Jerry Hadley, "The Song & the Slogan" based on texts by Carl Sandburg, was made into a TV program for the PBS network and aired nationally in 2004 and won an Emmy for Best Music. His latest opera La Llorona is a collaboration with novelist Rudolfo Anaya based on his play "The Season of La Llorona." Mr. Crafts is currently working on another commission from Jerry Hadley for a piece about the American Southwest which includes texts by Rudolfo Anaya and V.B. Price. Two CDs of his music, Contemporaries (short, satirical keyboard works) and ARIAS (excerpts from his various operas) have been released on the BACAT label in San Francisco.
David Steinberg David Steinberg has covered state government, the courts, city and county government in Santa Fe for the Albuquerque Journal. He's been an arts writer for the past 20 years, and serves as the book editor, for the Journal. Over the years, he's also acted in plays, sung in choruses and played trumpet.
Jennifer Noyer Jennifer Noyer has been writing dance reviews for the Albuquerque Journal for 17 years, as well as contributing articles for Dance Magazine and other art journals. She trained in dance with Hanya Holm in New York City and Colorado Springs, and studied several dance techniques at the graduate level at the University of Michigan. After teaching dance at Wayne State University she entered and completed a Masters Degree in Humanities there. In New Mexico Ms. Noyer has taught, directed, and choreographed contemporary dance for several years. Her writing on dance includes a monograph accompanying the video of choreographer Bill Evens’ ballet “The Legacy.” An overview of Evans’s world wide career, it was written and published during his tenure at the University of New Mexico. Ms. Noyer’s studies in the humanities, and her studio dance work influence her approach to dance as an integrative art form in the United States.
Barry Gaines Barry Gaines has taught Shakespeare in the University of New Mexico English Department for over twenty-five years and has received two outstanding teaching awards. He has written theater reviews for the Journal since 2000. He has attended theater all over the world including Shakespeare productions in Russia, South Africa, Denmark, and Poland. He has also served as literary advisor for two professional theater companies and written performance reviews for Shakespeare Quarterly. Gaines has taken two years of acting with Paul Ford and appeared in small parts in three plays at the Albuquerque Little Theater. He believes that he is probably a better reviewer than actor.
Joanne Sheehy Hoover Joanne Sheehy Hoover, music critic emeritus of the Albuquerque Journal, has written for NPR, PBS, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Symphony, among others. She has also been a music lecturer for the Smithsonian Associates and a music critic and arts writer for The Washington Post. She was director of the Levine School of Music, one of the country’s largest community music schools, in Washington, D. C. 1980-1993. She and her husband moved to Corrales, New Mexico in July 1993. Also a poet, her fifth collection, “Einstein in New Mexico,” was published in 2002.
Marissa Greenberg Marissa Greenberg is a member of the faculty of the University of New Mexico English Department, where she teaches Shakespeare and early English literature. A prior guest reviewer for the Albuquerque Journal, Greenberg will be reviewing theater while Barry Gaines is out of town. She also composed and edited the program notes for last year’s Albuquerque Shakespeare Festival and has written performance reviews for Shakespeare Bulletin. A graduate of Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania, Greenberg has been performing and studying drama for most of her life. She is thrilled to have this opportunity to review for the Journal.
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