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There were no tears for Verdi at Carnegie Hall on Saturday, the day of the centenary of his death, but there were cheers and enthusiastic applause when Vincent La Selva and his New York Grand Opera company performed his Requiem. Mr.La Selva was the man for the job. Few conductors in the world can have as deep, full and long an experience with Verdi's scores, and the Grand opera Company's summer productions in Central Park of all the Verdi operas - with just three this summer to complete the set - have borne the fruits of that expert musicianship. It is especially remarkable to find a conductor who combines high musical standards with a populism equally true to Verdi's ideals. Like the summer park performances, this Requiem found a mixed audience - cognoscenti, children, tourists toting cameras, people prone to clap in the "wrong" places - united by happiness in being there, enjoying the music and the occasion. And Mr. La Selva did them proud. The performance he led was thoroughly prepared and thoroughly dramatic: the sorrow, the raging, the anxiety and the sweetness all |
strongly and immediately communicated. There were wonderful moments from the orchestra: ethereal violin melody, gruff scrapes from the double basses, solid woodwind chords, majestic brass fanfares and thwacks from the bass drum that one felt in the body. But more than that, the players were as eager as the audience. So were the singers. The chorus responded with unanimous precision to Mr. La Selva's beat and to his definition of dynamic levels across a wide range. But nothing was too precious. Whether the chorus was whispering or in full, radiant cry, there was a robust humanity in the vocal sound, a sense of the music as the expression of real people. Four other real people were the soloists. Katherine Luna, the soprano, rose to tones of steadfast light in the "Libera Me." In other sections, the mezzo, Marisa Galvany, created a rich and characterful contrast with her. Edward Perretti maintained a clear tenor sound and Valentin Peitchinoff was the strong, companionable bass. |
Giuseppe Verdi's monumental Mass of Requiem Carnegie Hall In July of 1994, the New York Grand Opera Company embarked on a formidable
task entirely without precedent in musical history: the presentation of all 28 of Giuseppe
Verdi's marvelous operas in the order in which they were written. As we near the
completion of this challenging project--with only the final three masterpieces of the
canon to come during the summer of 2001--we commemorate the 100th anniversary of Verdi's
death with this special performance of his monumental Mass of Requiem, a work ranking with
the greatest of his operas, a reverent setting of liturgical text to be sure, yet of such
vivid tonal coloration and sumptuous melodic flow, such powerful emotional impact and
unrelenting dramatic intensity as to utterly defy classification and stand alone in the
annals of great music. And, while the latin words come to us from the Roman Catholic
Church, the music here is universal, transcending any particular religion or denomination,
voicing the darkest fears and highest hopes of all mankind, the eternal quest of every
living being for immortality and salvation. From the ominous summons of the "Tuba
mirum", scattering its sound through the tombs of every land, to the exultant
"Sanctus", proclaiming the glory of Hosanna in the highest...from the infinitely
tender "Ricordare", pleading for redemption, and the gentle "Agnus
Dei", beseeching forgiveness from the Lamb of God, to the shattering evocation of
hell's fire an fury in "Confutatis maledictus" and the nameless, faceless terror
of the "Dies irae"...from the plaintive, contrite "Ingemisco" to the
ultimate, piteous "Libera me" of the naked soul aspiring heavenward, this is
music that speaks for all people in all ages, freely confessing their guilt, resolutely
re-affirming their faith. by Vincent La Selva |
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