Please note: Throughout Classical New Jersey Society reviews some words are found preceded by an asterisk (*). This indicates that the word is defined or discussed in the IOW (In Other Words) section of our website. If you are looking for a special definition or discussion, click on the alpha-clickbar below or the actual word, if it is hyperlinked.
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H-I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P-Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X-Y-Z
This is an online only review - no other format is available.
Permission is granted to print and distribute this review in any format.Nous Theatre Opens
Mozart Requiem reorchestrated
Saturday, June 4, 18, and 25, 2005
By Paul M. SomersNous Theatre Presents - Inaugural Concert: Baroque Orchestra of North Jersey, Robert W. Butts (cond.), Sohyun Ahn (piano), Marjorie Berg (soprano), Elizabeth Moulton (mezzo-soprano), Gary Pate (tenor), Kevin Pruner (bass), Masterwork Chorus, Devin Mariman (preparing conductor). Mendelssohn: Hebrides Overture; Puccini: "Nessun dorma" from Turandot; Shostakovich: Piano Concerto no. 2; Mozart: Requiem. Nous Theatre, Blairstown.
It cannot be too often that a newly revived theatre has as its opening concert a presentation of a Requiem. Yet that is just what the Nous Theatre (think Greek, not French, and pronounce it like noose) in Blairstown did. The concert, originally planned for two successive Saturday evenings, was so popular that another was added.
Of course, the Mozart Requiem isn't just any requiem, and neither is the Masterwork Chorus just any choral group, nor for that matter is tenor soloist Gary Pate just some random tenor. So it was no wonder that there was so much demand for tickets. But it was more than that, for the Nous Theatre (www.noustheatre.com) put its high ambitions right before the public in its PR and then with quotes decorating the walls of the hall and stairwell, most telling being a definition of "Nous":
Nous n [Gk noos, Nous mind] 1 \'nüs\ " MIND, REASON: as a: the
intelligent purposive principle of the world.. b: the divine reason. the
first emanation God.
and
".it's about capturing Truth & Beauty."It is unclear whether such philosophizing was a draw, but the earnestness of the endeavor certainly came through. There was, however, evidence of a lack of experience in presenting a classical concert, especially one featuring a work of gravity. As we entered the hall, the management was playing a recording. Now that is in itself inappropriate, since part of the philosophy of a concert is that the live music should be the first heard. But the inappropriateness was only exacerbated because the music was Dixieland! It was very good Dixieland, but before a concert of Mendelssohn, Puccini, Shostakovich, and Mozart it was jarring.
The [Requiem] itself was given a fine performance. The Masterwork Chorus, reduced somewhat in order to fit on the smallish stage along with the orchestra and soloists, produced a solid and assured sound. Even in the most complicated or exposed sections the singing was firm. Because diction was precise rhythms were crisp and full of energy. Though music director Andrew Megill was present, it was his highly regarded assistant, Devin Mariman, who actually prepared the choral singers for this occasion.
The soloists included Metropolitan Opera tenor Gary Pate, whose voice was really too large for the theater. In the first half of the concert he sang Puccini's ever-popular "Nessun dorma" from Turandot to great and eserved acclaim, so his presence calmed any fears listeners might have had about the quality of the soloists for the Requiem. In the event, the soloists' were generally in line with those heightened expectations. Certainly mezzo-soprano Elizabeth M. Moulton was in fine voice, as was bass Kevin Pruner, both of whom we have heard to good effect before. Neither matches Pate in sheer vocal size, though they were close enough that Pate did not have to throttle back very much to match them in ensembles.
Unfortunately soprano Marjorie Berg has a voice which penetrates with shrillness. To be sure, she was quite involved in the texts and sent that aspect of her performance to the audience, but she is not effective because she has no vocal coloration and therefore no ability to develop differing characters in her voice to match her emotional display. Intonation was also an issue, but that discussion would be gratuitous "piling on."
The Baroque Orchestra of North Jersey has taken a step upward by engaging some professionals in the strings. This was quite evident when conductor Robert W. Butts laid out his clear cues to the violins and received back consistently secure attacks and energy. Intonation problems were limited to the cellos and that only occasionally.
It is not unusual for Mr. Butts to accommodate the original orchestrations to those musicians he has available. This forces him to reorchestrate, an exercise for which he seems to have a good ear. For the Requiem this led to the anomaly of a "Tuba mirum" without the requisite trombone. Instead, Andrew Pecota did a fine job playing the lengthy solo on the bassoon, effectively keeping the musicality but, of course, losing the *"last trombone" symbolism.
Butts himself, as is usual for him, had a complete grasp of the score. Cues, at least as seen from the audience, were definitive and appropriate. His requests for dynamics were always apt and executed well by the performers. Dan Sagi's clarinet solos were first rate.
Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Concerto no. 2 was the first half hit, surpassing Nessun dorma in applause by far, as it should. Sohyun Ahn was a dynamo, playing all the *Soviet octaves with panache and glittering clarity. The final movement's 7/8 meter was fluid and accurate. After such a display the audience cheered her even more than they had for Mr. Pate and Puccini.
The evening began with an effective recreation of Mendelssohn's "postcard" from the Hebrides. "Fingals' Cave" had all its drama intact, and the roar of the ocean on a rocky Scottish coast was refreshing on a warm night far from the shore in New Jersey.