Venezuelan choir takes audience on wild ride

By Richard Storm
For the Register-Guard

The concert given Monday evening by the Schola Cantorum de Caracas was billed as an "Intimate Evening." It was anything but. It was a wild and welcome ride through contemporary religious music and Latin American popular song and dance.

As the evening progressed from the almost unbearable intensity of Hungarian composer György Bárdos' ``Eli, Eli'' through the eerie dissonances of two of the Five Sacred Motets by Belgian composer Vic Nees and on to the Igor Stravinsky-like musical vocabulary of ``O Crux,'' Knut Nystedt's setting of the fifth century hymn, "Venantius Fortunatus," it was clear that we were privileged to hear choral singing of a very high standard.

Ensemble tone was particularly notable, especially in the quieter passages, when the temptation to force the sound was absent. The men's voices were beautifully tuned, using unified vowel sounds to create clean intonation. The women were somewhat less successful in that regard, but sang with great intensity throughout the lengthy program. As important, the ensemble displayed a command of shifting tonalities and complex rhythms virtually unequaled anywhere. Soloists chosen from within the chorus were excellent.

In Venezuelan composer Alberto Grau's stunning "Confitemini Domino," a liturgical chant by the men prompted birdlike responses from the women and a curiously mystical humming of consonants, culminating in high-intensity solo passages, rhythmic swaying and a triumphal shout at the end. Carlos Fonseca's folkloric ``Jubiabá'' was primitive and powerful.

This portion of the concert concluded with a mesmerizing performance of Grau's Stabat Mater. A setting of the famous scriptural verses, "There Stood the Mother," in which Mary's presence at the crucifixion of her son is described in universal terms, this is a new kind of religious choral music, mixing Latin chant with magic whispers and a prayerful swaying of the singers, combining ancient liturgical motifs with powerful modern sounds. Andres Ferrer's powerful spoken narration established the atmosphere in which this rich music flourished.

In the second part of the concert, while the texts were not overtly religious in nature, a strong sense of spiritual discovery and indigenous cultural commitment prevailed, announced in no uncertain terms by the first, full-throated sounds of Ecuadorian composer Gerardo Guevara's "Apamuy Shungo."

Gonzalo Castellanos, from Venezuela, had he been present, would surely have been as entranced as we by the rich, floating sound of men's voices that introduced his "Al Mar Anochecido." Also of note: the surprising fugue at the center of César Carillo's lighthearted "Oiga Compae" and the rich orchestral sound of the chorus as it accompanied Said Barrios' declamatory solo in Antonio Estévez's "Mata del Animas Sola." Another piece by Estévez, "Despertar," summoned more beautiful singing from the men.

Spirits in the room had been rising steadily until this point, at which popular rhythms and dances erupted, provoking even more highly musical sounds from the men's sections and enthusiastic cries by the women.

When the sinuous sounds of Astor Piazzola's "La Muerte del Angel" and "Primavera Porteña" exploded - driven by the energy of Gonzalo Grau's piano, a dynamic rhythm section and various soloists - the place exploded in cheers and whistles of appreciation. "Dale Como Es," by Cuban master Adalberto Alvarez, presented in tribute to festival co-founder Royce Saltzman, practically tore the roof off the hall. Relative calm was restored by a lovely encore: "Besame Mucho."

The Schola Cantorum's visit to the Oregon Bach Festival has bestowed a great gift: an enduring connection between our cultures.

Richard Storm is a classical music reviewer for the Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune.