Kuljeric's Croatian Mass Receives US Premiere
Eugene choir soars in unfamiliar territoryPRESS REVIEW
By Marilyn Farwell
The Register-Guard
Zoltan Kodaly: Te Deum
Igor Kuljeric: Hrvatska misa (Croatian Mass) (2006) - US Premiere
Inna Dukach, Soprano
Victoria Avetisyan, Mezzo-soprano
Yeghishe Manucharyan, Tenor
Boris Martinovic, Bass
EUGENE CONCERT CHOIR
OREGON MOZART PLAYERS
Zvonimir Hacko, Conductor
In the last concert of the season, the Eugene Concert Choir presented an exquisite gem crafted from the generally unfamiliar music of Eastern Europe.
Joined by four stellar soloists, and Oregon Mozart Players, the ensembles presented a stirring program of music by the Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodaly, various solo songs from Russia, Armenia, and Croatia, and most importantly, the American premiere of a two-year-old Mass by the Croatian composer Igor Kuljeric.
Diane Retallack, the choir's artistic director and usually its conductor, relinquished her position on the podium in favor of the Croatian-American maestro Zvonimir Hacko, who led both the choral group and the Oregon Mozart Players to superb performances.
The choral music was set to well known texts, the ancient Christian poem, "Te Deum," and the traditional parts of the Latin Mass, although the Mass was sung in Croatian.
Some of the music, especially Kodaly's, did not veer much from Western music formulas, but the most unfamiliar music, and I would say the most exciting, came from Eastern Europe's folk tradition with its modal melodies and complex rhythms. Texts like "Lamb of God, have mercy upon us" took on a new poignancy when sung by an Armenian singer in a style associated with folk singing.
Kodaly's "Te Deum" was bold, jubilant work, which the choir and the orchestra presented confidently. The "Te Deum" is an amalgam of Christian texts, a hymn of praise, portions of the Creed, and snippets of the Psalms. Vibrant, syncopated rhythms energized this majestic piece.
Because it was composed for a national Hungarian celebration, the brass section took a major and shining role in the triumphant sections. The sopranos were taxed to the limit with the high tessitura, and despite overbalancing the other sections at times, they were excellent. The work also introduced all four soloists -- soprano Inna Dukach, mezzo Victoria Avetisyan, tenor Yeghishe Manucharyan, and bass Boris Martinovic -- and gave the audience a taste of the vocal treats awaiting it during the rest of the concert. Most notable in Kodaly's music was the soprano, who floated a beautiful high pianissimo at the tranquil conclusion.
The concert then turned to lighter moments in which the soloists presented two songs each from their countries of origin..
The most extraordinary event of the evening was Kuljeric"Croatian Mass." I liken my experience here to the first time I heard Osvaldo Golijov's "St. Mark's Passion" in performance. Both were familiar and unfamiliar music worlds that gave new meaning to old texts with vivid new harmonies, melodies, and especially unusual rhythms.
Unlike most traditional Western version of the Mass, this work relished the foot stomping rhythms of folk tunes along with sections reminiscent of Russian Orthodox chanting, including those low, low bass notes. At the other end of the vocal spectrum, soprano and tenors were asked to sing at the highest limits of their vocal ranges. The same thrilling tessitura was demanded of the two soloists, the tenor and the mezzo. The tenor took center stage in numerous sections with blazing vocal purity.
A beautiful moment came when Avetisyan joined the tenor in a glorious high A, usually the upper limit of a mezzo's range. The mezzo also gave the Agnus Dei a level of poignancy not heard in many Western version of this last section of the Mass. The Concert Choir was dazzling with pianissimo chanting at times and exuberant swelling at others. The orchestra [the Oregon Mozart Players] performed exceptionally well.
Relallack and the Eugene Concert Choir can now proudly go into next season with two exceptional successes, this one and their earlier one in their pockets.
April 28, 2008
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