Counterpoints sing in tonal splendor

By Richard Storm for The Register-Guard.

Devotees of the Oregon Bach Festival are no strangers to the way intelligent programming can illuminate the music by encouraging one to use a familiar academic strategy: compare and contrast. Doing just that was never easier, more satisfying or more enjoyable than at Friday night's concert.

Felix Mendelssohn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart both chose to carry forward the mission of Johann Sebastian Bach into their own times, mingling their genius with the Bach heritage, giving it new life. Mendelssohn, in particular, was devoted to rediscovering the neglected Bach repertoire and presenting it to 19th-century audiences in Germany and England. His own compositions, especially those which set traditional Biblical and liturgical verses, reflect his immersion in his predecessor's work. Mozart, too, studied Bach (who died only a few years before Mozart's birth) as a model for his own use of counterpoint.

Mendelssohn's setting of Psalm 42 ("As the hart longs for streams of water") is found infrequently on concert programs these days. Judging by this performance, it is hard to explain its absence, for the familiar sweep of Mendelssohn's astonishing and precocious genius is found in every measure.

Written when the composer was 28 years old, it embodies youthful ardor and mature discipline, setting the lyrical outpouring of the Old Testament poet in a combination of free song and strict counterpoint that is very effective.

This performance by the Festival Chorus and Orchestra, under Helmuth Rilling's masterful direction, was very fine, particularly in the diction, intonation and tonal splendor of the chorus.

Balance with the orchestra was excellent, too, bringing a transparency to the complex texture of the work that was exemplary.

Soprano Elizabeth Keusch, while somewhat tentative at first, brought clean tone and fine diction to her soaring lines, and the chorus, particularly the male singers, was nothing short of magnificent. A few shaky moments, when coordination between chorus and orchestra was slightly off, were soon remedied. And the big "Bachian" fugue was delivered with spot-on accuracy and fine intonation. A few melodic intimations of the "Elijah" to come 10 years later to Mendelssohn (and only eight days from now in Eugene) added to the insight provided by the astute program architects.

Mozart's Requiem in D minor has always been the subject of curiosity and speculation. How much of it was actually written by Mozart? Did his pupil, Sussmayr, hired by Mozart's poverty-stricken widow to complete the work, do the material justice? Is it top-grade Mozart, given the circumstances of its commission by someone who intended to claim its authorship? Should we tamper with it?

One answer to the perennial question was presented at this concert, when Maestro Rilling conducted a completion and revision by the Mozart scholar and festival regular Robert Levin. Levin's concept involves a thorough cleaning of the existing material, for the most part, although he has composed an "Amen" (based on a Mozart sketch) for the liturgical sequence that begins with the "Recordare" and ends with "Lacrymosa." The results are, for the most part, convincing, although the fugal writing seems uncharacteristically academic, particularly at the rather arbitrary final cadence. That being said, felicities abound elsewhere in his revision of the score, especially in the new transparency brought to the orchestration, providing welcome choral-orchestral balance.

The soloists were superb, especially tenor Lothar Odinius and alto Ingeborg Danz. Their contributions were Mozartian in their supple lyricism. Soprano Keusch sang beautifully, improving on her performance in the Mendelssohn, with effortless production and pure vowels.

Sanford Sylvan, bass, did well with the "Tuba Mirum" but his contribution was occasionally overwhelmed by a rather wobbly trombone. In their ensemble episodes, the solo quartet seemed to lag behind the beat from time to time, a situation soon remedied by immediate and close-range attention from Rilling.

And the chorus! Their unanimity of tonal production, their precision of attack and release, was nothing short of phenomenal. If their impressive diction sometimes led to an intrusive hurling of consonants, that was a small price to pay for the overall brilliance and musicality of their contribution to a memorable evening.

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