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Lutheran Church of the Cross
February 3, 2013
The eight singers who made their entrance into Victoria's early music scene as Raincoast Voices in March of last year, followed that successful debut with further explorations into the 15th century polyphonic works of Pierre de la Rue and Johannes Ockegem, while drawing attention to to the much less familiar and surprisingly modern soundscape of the 16th century Carlo Gesualdo di Venosa - somewhat intriguingly referred to in the concert's title - before concluding with a twentieth century Italian composer, Luigi Dallapiccola, whose experiments in twelve tone compositions and a lyrical serialism took place at a time when Italy was also undergoing a revival of interest in Early Music ... hence the resonances apparent in this challenging and fascinating programme. Dallapiccola's dissonances, softened by Ockegem's emotionally satisfying "cream" if I dare stretch the metaphor that far.
The opening Kyrie, based on a popular song of the day, featured a canon over a cantus firmus, the eight interlocking voices all strong and confident, the gently supplicating simplicity of the single voices of the Christe a moving prelude to the stirring unison of the final eleison.
Two basses, two altos and one tenor remained for Ockegem's Intemerata Dei Mater, the altos providing a rich and creamy texture over the almost Russian depth of the bass line, a sound deeper than sound, evoking the rock of earth itself ... not inappropriate to an invocation of the Mother, and something Ockegem was noted for. The harmonies of the concluding amen were quite glorious.
Returning to the de la Rue Gloria, introduced with a solo from Robert Fraser, Elizabeth MacIsaac and Jennifer Lang shared some exquisitely tender moments, and the Qui Tollis section featured the remarkably soaring purity of MacIsaac's soprano. The imploring quality of the bass line with its spare texture and swelling Christe, brought the Misere to a joyous finish.
And then there was Gesualdo. Five voices again, this time both basses, MacIsaac (soprano), SunSong (alto) and Fraser (tenor). Immediately the squeezed intervals and chromatic dissonances were strikingly apparent, the bass line very dramatic and the results truly exciting. Impossible not to have visions of crucifying agony in a music expressing such an intense drama and chaotic fury of thought, and the power of grief to kill all hope or joy. The excellent programme notes raise the question of what could have possessed him to experiment musically, over 300 years ahead of his time, in this manner, described as "unprincipled modulation" and "perpetual embarrassments" as much as two hundred years later! The biographical details of his life suggest that he murdered his young wife and her lover, and I can easily imagine that a gifted musician faced with such a nightmare at the core of his being would be obliged to break a few rules of composition to have any hope of reconciling himself to the hidden torment of his own life. Remarkable, all the same.
The first half concluded with the Credo from de la Rue. In contrast to the monotonous intoning of creeds in so many churches these days, this was an emotionally compelling story of a sacred life in all its nuances from solemnity, awe, calm certainty and the final triumph underscoring just how many ways there are to sing an amen.
After the intermission, de la Rue's Mass resumed with the Sanctus, a beautiful duet between MacIsaac and SunSong followed by an equally compelling trio with the addition of the bass line in the Benedictus, coming to a rousing conclusion with all the voices joined in the Hosanna.
Returning to Ockegem and the long, slow invocation of Alma Redemptoris Mater, Jennifer Lang's clear-as-a-bell alto created a gently maternal, nurturing mood in delicately articulated phrasing. The intensity increasing as the miracle of the act of birthing the Saviour culminated in gorgeous calligraphic lines.
The second serving of Gesualdo had all the edge, all the emotional constriction that only unreprieved small intervals can offer, yet with a lighter touch. What a talent this composer had, to find in music a plausible reconciliation of joia and morte, joy and death. It offered one of the lighter moments of the concert when one of the tenors joked after the long final note, that now he needed a cigarette!
The Agnus Dei formed the last layer of the Mass with a deeply contemplative duet between Eve Richardson and Robert Fraser, making light work of the technical rigours of singing together at different speeds, before concluding the concert with the modern, yet completely apposite choice of settings of two acerbic poems on the bitter truths of female lives by Luigi Dallapiccola from his Prima Serie dei Cori di Michelangelo. Like Gesualdo, Dallapiccola, though not destined to be as popular in his own time as he might have liked, yet unafraid, drawn to the new and untried, was as intelligent and masterful a composer as his forbear, employing the same dramatic chromaticisms without forgoing the lyrical line. The oft repeated line, una zucca sensa sale, an unsalted pumpkin, to describe the kind of insipidly stupid woman one would want to avoid at all costs as a wife, took on a mantra like quality, a fitting dismissal of everything that lacks verve and integrity ... the very ingredients this ensemble took so much pleasure in offering us.
I only have two small reservations. The first is the acoustic of the venue: the voices are so strong, they could have used the softening effect of a warmer resonance. It struck me that the closing cadences, often sung at a quieter pitch, were more effective than some of the more technically impressive passages. The second is also about warmth, or audience engagement. When directed by SunSong, the singers all kept their eyes on her, standing at one side. When she was not present, the singers kept their eyes on their folders, the men especially standing like apostles carved on the face of a cathedral, holding their holy books. The heavy music stands also formed a barricade which added to a sense of distance and disengagement which I think they could easily overcome.
This very talented group of singers each belong to at least one other group ... look out for performances by Continuum Consort, Hexaphone, the Pacific Baroque Festival, Vox Humana, UVic Graduate Recital and various local churches, all in the next few months.
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