At Pacific Symphony, a Glorious Send-Off for a Beloved Maestro
/By Truman C. Wang
6/6/2025
Photo credit: Doug Gifford
Carl St.Clair, the retiring Music Director of the Pacific Symphony, chose Verdi’s Requiem to go out with a bang. Judging from last night’s performance (Thursday, June 5), it was not a day of wrath, but a night of jubilation celebrating the end of a 35-year career.
One thing I came to appreciate over the years was the eminently lyrical, singing quality in maestro St Clair’s conducting. (Vladimir Horowitz maintained that when he played he always tried to imitate the great singers.) Essentially, Verdi had conceived the Requiem Mass as an opera, to the dismay of many contemporary critics. At the 1874 premiere in Milan’s St. Marco’s Church, he incurred the wrath of Pope Pius IX by having women singers in the chorus and solos (three of the soloists were singers from the original 1871 Aida cast.) A lifelong atheist, Verdi did not write the requiem for the religious; the work expresses, on an operatic scale, the universal emotions of grief, terror, hope and optimism that we can all relate to.
Under maestro St. Clair, the orchestral playing was lyrical, opulent, gleaming. The accompaniment to the “Sanctus” chorus and the “Dies irae” sections was splendidly apocalyptic. In between the fire and brimstone, one was moved by the wailing oboe in “Lacrimosa” and comforted by the consoling flutes in “Agnus Dei” and “Lux aeterna”. The balance of the onstage and offstage trumpets in “Tuba mirum” was perfectly judged and sounded glorious. Tempos were brisk in the choral and orchestral sections, expansive in the solo numbers, giving the singers plenty of room to breathe and express themselves, the words, and the music. Throughout the performance, I got the distinct impression that the orchestra was not merely accompanying the singers, but actively collaborating with them.
The quartet of soloists proved well-matched and vocally compelling. Soprano Raquel González (replacing the originally scheduled Leah Hawkins) lacked heft in the weightier declamation of "Libera me” but floated some exquisite high notes and phrased her lines well. Mezzo-soprano Daryl Freedman's firm, incisive tone (a fine Amneris voice) alternated between great authority and great tenderness. Her “Recordare” duet with Ms. González – which Verdi wrote but deleted for Don Carlos – was a thing of beautiful pathos. Tenor Won Whi Choi’s honeyed, plangent tone was heard to great effects in “Ingemisco” and “Hostias”. Bass Zaikuan Song brought gravitas and depth to his plead for mercy in “Confutatis”.
The Pacific Chorale was stellar in their range and virtuosity. From the hushed reverence of "Te decet hymnus” in the Introit, they transitioned seamlessly to the thunderous “Dies irae” with spine-tingling precision and power. The eight-part “Sanctus” fugue, in all its glorious magnificence, was enough to make a believer of an atheist.
During the final curtain call, the supertitle screen flashed the words, “Thank you Carl for 35 amazing years!” To which I would add – Thank you Carl for a glorious Verdi Requiem!
Two more performances on Friday June 6 and Saturday June 7.
Truman C. Wang is Editor-in-Chief of Classical Voice, whose articles have appeared in the Pasadena Star-News, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, other Southern California publications, as well as the Hawaiian Chinese Daily. He studied Integrative Biology and Music at U.C. Berkeley.