I’ve been crossing works off of my musical bucket list this year at this summer’s festivals – an act from a Die Walküre and big chunks for Verdi’s Otello in Astoria, and now Beethoven’s massive and enigmatic Missa Solemnis in Eugene at the Oregon Bach Festival.
Whereas Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (written roughly contemporaneously to the mass) proceeds with clearly articulated logic and pacing, Missa Solemnis is more in the vein of his late string quartets. The writing is sometimes awkward for the string parts – much as with those late quartets – and there are surprising (even to modern ears) contrasts of tempo, dynamics, and timbre. I’ll spare the history lesson, but the essence of this work is that Beethoven spent time studying those masses that had come before, all the way back to the pre-Renaissance masters. So his harmonic language is imbued with more of those modal influences than other works of the time, and less classically structured.
It was a performance that was memorable for many reasons, some of them even musical. First of all, the choir was incredible, as it always is. Such a range of dynamics and colors! And their rhythm is truly remarkable – that is important, as you’ll discover later. Concertmaster Rahal Rilling was masterful in her leadership, and her solo in the Sanctus (depicting the descent of the Holy Spirit from heaven) was lovely (and played standing). The soloists were more of an uneven lot. The two female soloists were excellent, especially the soprano Tamara Wilson. The men seemed a bit overwhelmed by the task at hand, though each had fine singing voices. They may have been a bit distracted by the conducting assistance of Maestro Rilling, which was a bit more vague and mysterious than usual, though he is obviously still very much a commanding intellectual presence. This led to several moments of near collapse in the orchestra as the soloists, orchestra, and chorus all interpreted a tempo change differently, but the rhythmic security of the chorus, in particular, saved the day. These are quibbles from inside of a performance, however. I’m sure little of this was evident to the vast majority of the audience, who were highly appreciative of the evening’s performance.
Today, rehearsals begin on the Opera Gala program, which features works by three composers celebrating major birth anniversaries this season: Verdi and Wagner (200 years), and Britten (100 years). Artistic director designate Matthew Halls conducts.
2 replies on “obf – missa solemnis”
You are right, as audience participant, I was not aware of the ‘near collapse’ or any collapse between orchestra, soloists and choir. I thought it was a masterful presentation. It was a powerful and emotional piece of music. The only collapse was the actual collapse of one of the choir members, front row center no less. There was an audible ‘THUNK’ as she hit the floor. This was about 3 minutes before the final bombastic chord. Rilling did not miss a beat, as did none of the rest of the musical community, excepting the two choir members on either side of the collapsed member. They were ministering to her, leaving a gap, like a 7 year old’s toothless smile, in the choir. Despite, everyone perservered, and it was a magnificent performance. Thank you to your excellent professionalism, the tempo changes went smoothly from our side of the stage! Looking forward to more excellent music.
Thanks, Rebecca! Yes, those mishaps that seem to last for hours to those of us on stage actually usually last mere seconds, or fractions thereof, and audience members rarely know anything happened (which is very reassuring!). I heard that poor chorister collapse, and I hope that she is doing ok. I heard the sound and knew immediately what it was, but had no opportunity to see what had happened, but saw her escorted off stage during the bows.