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His Miserere, composed in 1989 and revised in 1992, evolves from
a solo tenor intonation with clarinet commentary into the
full-blown choral and instrumental fury of an interpolated “Dies
Irae” (Day of Wrath), which is followed by soloists – Claire
Fedoruk, Soprano; Kimberly Switzer, Mezzo Soprano;
Michael Lichtenauer and Shawn Kirchner, Tenors; and
Scott Graff, Bass, all of whom were required to have an
acute sense of pitch, and these named singers do – reverting to
calm Psalm quotations. A return of the Dies Irae theme appears
in sequenced fashion over Holocaust implications, followed by
requisite penitential musings and a final organ postlude. Our
48-member Master Chorale performed at their usual professional
best.
Meredith Monk surely has a near-fanatic fan base,
including but not limited to fans flying in from foreign ports
of call to attend this concert. Audience Building 101.
Her minimalism takes a different course from, say, John
Adams, in that she captures all the sounds of nature and among
other pursuits of border bending, deploys the human voice with
glottal stops. Most singers are warned while learning vocal
technique about glottal stops, as too much use of them may be
damaging to the vocal mechanism, notwithstanding the German
language’s generous use of them without harm done. On this
occasion, Mezzo Soprano Katie Geissinger started Monk’s
“Weave” with a series of notes initiated by “strokes of the
glottis. This created an effect not normally heard when humans
sing, and is exactly the sort of experimental sounds of nature
that Ms. Monk seeks to explore. Unfortunately, as the Monk
portion of the concert unwound, Ms. Geissinger’s voice grew ever
more husky, lacking earlier focus, in spite of her obvious music
talents. Sometimes experimentation takes a toll. Ms. Geissinger
travels with Ms. Monk and her company of singers and
instrumentalists, thus longer-term exposure to glottal stops
amount to a moveable hazard.
But glottal stops were only one of a myriad of sounds evoked
through “Weave”, a work co-commissioned by the Los Angeles
Master Chorale and Grand Center Inc., with the Ur-premier
performance taking place with the St. Louis Symphony. Such
aggregation of sounds takes place within an unstated framework
of “naturalism,” something akin to Native American ethos. But it
is so much more than the caricature banging on drums and
chanting for rain. Her themes are about life, philosophy, and
perhaps unfortunately, politics. It is this kinship of art and
politics appearing now and again in Los Angeles Master Chorale
concerts that is disconcerting (yes, a pun). But c.f. Audience
Building 101. When political balance is restored via a rousing,
traditional rah-rah of “When Johnny Comes Marching Home” replete
with Boy Scouts carrying American flags and the music of Stephen
Foster, Charles Ives, Aaron Copland and George Gershwin, then
political neutrality will be restored … (or not).
Nevertheless, Ms. Monk was received by the audience with
eager shouts and applause, and her own performances of “Night”
and “Songs of Ascension” following intermission revealed a
pig-tailed performer able to capture and charge the Walt Disney
Concert Hall atmosphere, including a subtle light show and
Buddhist reference, sprawling alone onstage with her iconic
shruti box between her legs, to weave the spirit of
otherworldliness that to a mostly rat-race audience, is
beguiling at least, and inspiring at best. Her voice is said to
span three octaves. But most singers can span three octaves –
the highest and lowest utterances are not useable in performance
of traditional music, but Ms. Monk can and does, because
accepted traditional vocal quality are irrelevant in her world.
Ms. Monk’s traveling troupe of musicians included the
importance of baritone Theo Bleckmann in both “Weave” and
“Songs of Ascension”, and in the latter, Tenors Tom Bogdan
and Matthew Brown, Sopranos Emily Lin and
Allison Sniffin, (who collaborated on the orchestrations),
Mezzo Sopranos Katie Geissinger and Andriana Manfredi,
Tenors Mr. Bogdan and Matthew Brown and LAMC member Kimberly
Switzer, with Baritone Melvir Ausente. Journeyman
instrumentalist Bohdan Hilash played bass clarinet, and
local pros Ralph Morrison and Nina Evtuhov, were
violinists, Shawn Mann, violist, and Maurice Grants,
‘cellist. All instrumentalists were well prepared, whether
members of the composer’s troupe or local pros.
In the final movement of “Songs of Ascension”, Ms. Monk’s
soloists followed her slow-motion act of assuming a prone
face-up repose onstage. When Maestro Grant Gershon joined
them, the audience tittered loudly, apparently remembering the
far more touching and appropriate involvement of conductor with
score in Tan Dun’s “Water Passion” of several seasons
ago.
All of which was followed by an encore set in circle
formation for cheering fans, while others scurried their way
back to real life.
For
tickets to other Los Angeles Master Chorale concerts, call (213)
972-7211 or visit www.lamc.org
Douglas Neslund
is Classical Voice correspondent and a noted voice/choral teacher in
Los Angeles.
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