SANTA ROSA - Johannes Brahms was a young twenty-something when he began
writing what became his Opus 45, but by the time it was first performed,
in 1867, he turned 34. By then and especially later, he was unhappy with
the name that had already stuck: "A German Requiem."
It is certainly not an "ethnic" work nor a particularly Christian one
(Christ is not mentioned in the text, and Old and New Testaments passages
are both used), but rather a deeply spiritual message to and about the
mourners, not about souls of the dead navigating through hellfire and
damnation. Brahms suggested "A Human Requiem," but that didn't fly.
I have no high hopes for the substitution suggested here, inspired by
the Santa Rosa Symphony's performance on Sunday, that it be called "A
Community Requiem," although the facts are on my side.
Once again, SRS music director Jeffrey Kahane managed to involve town
and country, professional and amateur singers, schools and community
groups in a lengthy development process he had also applied to the Britten
"War Requiem," Tippet's "A Child of Our Time" and other large-scale
projects.
The chorus for the Brahms, for example, consisted of 50 high school
students, 75 singers chosen from community choruses, and 50 members of
the Sonoma County Bach Choir. Now "community involvement," of course is
a Good Thing, heaven knows. The problem, again as a matter of course,
is that "talented amateurs" are neither expected nor are likely to deliver
a professional performance.
Except that they did.
Prepared by the newly-appointed SRS choral director Robert Worth, conducted
by Kahane and supported by a flawless orchestra, the chorus sang gloriously,
with a fair diction, great balance, and a convincing sense of the music.
Kahane, a brilliant pianist who has become a formidable conductor, shaped
the performances masterfully. He served the structure faithfully, using
the opening "Selig sind, die da Leid tragen" ("Blessed are they that
mourn") and the closing "Selig sind die Toten" ("Blessed are the dead")
as repetition, reinforcement, question-and-answer, enfolding everything
in-between. For some 70 minutes, the Requiem built steadily, comprehensively,
with a deep understanding of its humane, caring message.
Led by associate concertmaster Jeanelle Meyer, the orchestra played
superbly: strings perfectly together, woodwinds free and easy, the brass
blending in without a hitch. Never heard a better performance from the
SR Symphony. And the setting for that accomplishment is a truly
hard-to-believe situation, something that exist only in the context of
a suffering-heroic-underpaid-overworked regional orchestra: the Santa
Rosans performed the Requiem four times within 60 hours - at a 2 p.m.
dress rehearsal Saturday, the premiere at 8 that evening, the Sunday
matinee I attended, and then a final performance Monday night. Well, at
least they could catch their breath during intermissions... except that
there isn't any.
Karina Gauvin handled the soprano solo in "Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit"
well, although without much feeling or vocal distinction. Baritone Stephen
Powell managed his two great solos better: "Herr, lehre doch mich" was
solid, straightforward, he brought appealing energy to the solo portions
of "Denn wir haben hie keine bleibende Statt."
Energy in general was the only problem in an otherwise stunning performance
of big-league competence. All went well, but also in a measured-mannered
way, which tended to distance the audience. Part of the problem may be
in the work itself: a "just-good" performance makes it sound majestic
and bloodless, "above it all," rather than involving or moving.
There are few performances on record successfully mixing that over-all
feel with inner tension and excitement. The major fault with the Kahane-SRS
"German Requiem" is that it fell short of the Klemperer-New Philharmonia
standard... a semi-jocular statement offered here as an antonym to
"damning with faint praise."
Janos Gereben/SF
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