SEATTLE SYMPHONY “MOZART REQUIEM” (SALVE NOS)

The Seattle Symphony’s performance of Mozart’s “Requiem” on Thursday the 20th of February puts the “wreck” back in requiem. It was hard for me to believe that I was listening to a masterpiece, preformed by a “major” symphony orchestra with its conductor of more than 25 years at the helm. It was a sad night, and one, I am sure Maestro Schwartz, would not like us to remember as his legacy.

Actually, the evening was doomed from the beginning. The soprano soloist, Hahan Alattar who was engaged for the performance, cancelled and was replaced by Christina Siemens, who is better know to Seattle audiences as a “company pianist” for the Pacific Northwest Ballet. But it seems Ms. Alattar was not the only one not in attendance. Most of the Symphony’s key players were also missing in action. The reason given was that they were playing “The Barber Of Seville” at Macaw Hall. One of the many joys of living in Seattle (a city that boasts of being in the cultural main-stream) is that the Symphony members moonlight for the opera. That may all be well and good, but I don’t believe they should be playing for the opera on an evening of a subscription concert.

The first offering of the evening was a world premier commissioned as one of many to be heard throughout the season in honor of Maestro Schwarz’s farewell season as music director of the symphony. If Daniel Brewbaker’s “Be Thou The Voice” for soprano and orchestra is a bellwether of the caliber of the others to follow, it will be a very long farewell season for our departing leader. Many years ago, I bought a game that had various musical phrases from Mozart pieces on separate cards. The idea was to arrange the various cards in such a way as to create your own “Mozart” composition. I think Mr. Brewbaker also bought one and took the instructions to heart. If you were not at the concert, you will just have to trust me, because I’m sure you will never hear this piece again.

Then came a raucous reading of the Mozart Symphony No. 28, a light-weight offering from a young Mozart. I don’t pretend to know the work(I don’t remember ever having heard it before) but the last movement contained some of the ugliest string sounds I have ever heard on a concert stage. I’m not sure who was to blame.

Ending the first half was Mozart’s Horn Concerto No.2 in E-Flat Major. Even the sloppy playing of the orchestra could not detract from the wonderfully phrased playing of John Cerminaro. He did, however, seem somehow out of place.

After intermission came the titular composition of the evening, Mozart’s, incomparable, “Requiem Mass”. I am very familiar with this work and have heard and performed it many times, and it ranks high on my “all-time favorites” list. I found the performance to be most puzzling. As was mentioned, by at least one Seattle reviewer, it was more bombastic than it was solemn and the tempi ranged from fast to faster. The first entrance by the solo quartet was forte or perhaps mezzo-forte, but the score has it marked “soto voce” There was very little contrast in choral sound from one section to the next, and the fact that the chorus is badly in need of some sopranos with solid high notes, did not add to the overall effect. In fact, it seemed to be devoid of any real feeling. Not good for a requiem.

The solo quartet does not have a great volume of music to sing in Mozart’s “Requiem”, but what it does have is very important. Mozart has the soprano soloist sing a phrase near the beginning of the piece and repeating the same musical phrase near the end. This was not written by chance; but on this evening it clearly did not make the impact that the composer intended. Perhaps it is not fair to fault Ms. Siemens, since she was a replacement, but although she has a pleasant voice, she does not have the commanding quality of projection that the music demands. In fact, a good deal of the time she is making beautiful tones (perhaps), but she did not project into the hall. The program notes mentioned that she also sings with the Tudor Choir; I assume her voice is better suited for that than Benaroya Hall.

For me, the piece really “gets going” with the “Tuba Mirum” introduced by the trombone followed by the bass soloist and then each member of the solo quartet joining one by one. This is one of the musical highlights of the “Requiem” and should be both exciting and majestic. The trombone was fine, but it went downhill from there. I found Weston Hurt’s baritone to be much too light, and his sustained low note far too insignificant for the moment. Come to think of it, the score calls for a bass, not a baritone. There IS a difference! I know Mr. Hurt probably does some roles that call for a bass, since he can hit the low notes. Basses are rarer than baritones, and everyone wants to save money….. but there are certain roles that require a basse’s timbre, and this is certainly one. Actually, I heard Mr. Hurt sing Germont in Seattle Opera’s “La Traviata” and felt it was a bit too light then. It is interesting that neither the program nor his management list him as “Bass-Baritone”. I guess that is because he isn’t one. Just being able to reach a note does not define what a singer is. As stated in an earlier blog, even through Placido Domingo sings baritone roles (and don’t we wish he wouldn’t) he is still a tenor and still sounds like a tenor.

Speaking of tenors, Ross Hauck the tenor soloist had all the notes (I think) but I feel his voice is too lyric and borders at times on a comprimario sound. I felt that many times in the quartet ensemble the tenor line got lost. I find it interesting that singers hired for performances are not nearly of the caliber or experience of the instrumental soloists hired. Perhaps this is because usually more than one singer is needed and it is too expensive. But I feel the main reason is that very few conductors know what constitutes good singing, and for that matter neither do most of the audiences today. I don’t blame the audiences because they have not grown up hearing good vocalism. Until we teach “real” music in our schools and find a way to expose people to great voices, we will never hear masterpieces, such as Mozart’s “Requiem” as they were intended and should be experienced. What a loss for us all. If you have never had a really well made Cabernet Sauvignon you don’t realize how bad “two buck Chuck” is.

Of course the evening ended with a standing ovation. Interestingly, it was what I call a “rolling” standing ovation; sort of like the “wave” also introduced in Seattle. It seems to me, that if something moves you so much that you want to spring to you feet you do it immediately. You should not have to wait a few moments until one or two people start and gradually join with the rest as they decide that they really liked the performance.

Actually one of the most satisfying moments of the evening was the conclusion (no, not just because it was finally over) because there was finally a moment of beautiful music-making. But unfortunately it came from a piece of music added on to the Requiem that was not intended by Mozart.

The “Requiem”, like any mass has several sections.
Here is a copy of the program listing.

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Requiem, K. 626
Introitus
Kyrie
Sequenz
Offertorium
Sanctus
Benedictus
Agnus Dei
Communio
Ave verum corpus, K.618

The Requiem has and ending. “Ave verum corpus” is in fact very moving, but it is not and was not intended to be a part of Mozart’s “Requiem”. You can tell by the “K” numbers that it was written before the “Requiem”, so if Mozart had intended it to be included he would have included it himself and not waited for some conductor to do it for him years later. I wonder what we could add as an ending for the Verdi “Requiem” or Beethoven’s “Ninth”? I feel this is musically dishonest. It would be one thing to, perhaps, play it afterwards as an encore, but to go right into it, signaling the audience not to applaud at what they perceived (rightfully) to be the end of the piece, is very troubling. It is as though Maestro Schwarz did not feel the “Requiem” was strong enough on it’s own merits. Actually, this evening he was right about that. Not only was the “Requiem” “light weight” (not Mozart’s fault) at best, but the final note from the chorus was pushed flat, making for a very unfortunate ending.
In contrast, the” Ave verum corpus” was handled beautifully. Historians state that Mozart wrote the piece for his good friend, Anton Stoll, who was chorus master at the Parish church in Baden. He was aware not only of the Imperial ban on elaborate music in church, but also the limitations of Stoll's choir. For whatever reason, his setting is remarkable for its compact simplicity. This clearly worked to Maestro Schwarz’s and the chorus’s advantage.

My point here is not to trash the Seattle Symphony or for that matter Maestro Schwarz, but to plead with those of you out there who know, appreciate and care about classical music, to realize that unless we demand more from our musical institutions and critics, we are in danger of loosing this wonderful art form as we know it. Perhaps we already have. Who knows, maybe in a few seasons we will have a television series devoted to amateur music-making. How about “America’s Got Orchestras”. All you would need is a good PR person, a few critics looking for work and a couple of nouveau billionaires who want to appear cultured.
Have I gone too far? I certainly hope so, but just think about it for a moment.