DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Cecile Cooper newspaper clippings, 1966-1987 | 1978-11-24 "" At the Philharmonic: A Choral Feast""

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Cecile Cooper newspaper clippings, 1966-1987

1978-11-24 "" At the Philharmonic: A Choral Feast""

THE NEW YORK TIMES, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24, ??

C28

At the Philharmonic: A Choral Feast

By HAROLD C. SCHONBERG

WEDNESDAY NIGHT in Avery Fisher Hall, Zubin Mehta gathered unto himself a chorus and addressed himself and the New York Philharmonic to a pair of masterpieces -- Schubert's Mass No. 5 in A flat and the much shorter "Te Deum" by Anton Bruckner. Both works were more than welcome, their intrinsic merits aside. We don't normally get this material on symphony programs. There is a theory in some symphony circles that audiences grow restive during long choral works. And, besides, they cost a lot of money to put on: soloists, a chorus...
The last two Schubert Masses, in A flat and E flat, present a different side of the composer from that normally heard. They are big, confident and and dramatic. They are big, confident and dramatic. They have their full share of Schubert's ineffable lyricism and sweetness, but they also have a kind of power that many listeners associate only with the Ninth Symphony in C.

The Mass in A flat is a relatively early work, but it contains a full arsenal of effects. It passes from the sweetness of the opening Kyrie to the dramatic thrust of the Gloria, the bouncing fugal passages in "Cum sancto spiritu," the jaunty Credo and the piercing lyric sadness of the Agnus Dei. Even the orchestra is much fuller and richer than in corresponding orchestral works of that period on Schubert's life. To many people, the Schubert Masses are unknown territory. Thank goodness for records. At least the Schubert Masses can be heard there.
Completely different, of course, is the Bruckner "Te Deum," another piece familiar more through recordings than in the concert hall. Starting out in C major, getting almost immediately into typical Brucknerian chromaticism, making apocalyptic noises, it is Bruckner at his most visionary. Nor does it last as long as a typical Bruckner score. Mr. Mehta brought it in about 20 minutes, which is average.
In both the Schubert and Bruckner scores, the solo quartet has very little solo work. There are no solos in all the Schubert; the singers have some measures here and there at which they are heard on their own, but for the most part they have to work in ensemble. In the Bruckner, the tenor is on his own for a while in the Te ergo; otherwise this work, too, has the singers going along as an ensemble unit.
Kathleen Battle, Beverly Wolff, Seth McCoy and Simon Estes were the soloists. Each had something distinctive to contribute. Miss Battle, with her hard, clear, penetrating soprano, had a tendency to dominate the ensemble. Miss Wolff sang sensitively, blending beautifully with the other voices. In the Te ergo of the Bruckner, Mr. McCoy was a bit clumsy; his voice is not the most flexible of instruments. But he too is a sensitive singer who had the musicianship to hold up his end. Mr. Estes, back from Bayreuth, where he was the first black singer ever to take the role of the Flying Dutchman, delivered some impressively resonant low notes.
As for Mr. Mehta, he was in complete control of orchestra, chorus and soloists. In the Bruckner he reveled in the opportunity to pile sonority on sonority. In this work, Bruckner calls for triple fortissimos all over the place, and Mr. Mehta took him at his word, as he did the lusty young singers of the Westminster Choir, who responded nobly.

In the Schubert, of course, Mr. Mehta was closer to an early 19th-century style, though he did not attempt to present a shrinking-violet kind of Schubert. The drama and power of the music was ever-present in his mind, and he conveyed the thrust of the score. It was a fine evening of music, all the more delectable in that the two scores are heard so seldom in live performances with a great orchestra that they sounded like a new experience.

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THE NEW YORK TIMES, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24, ?? C28 At the Philharmonic: A Choral Feast By HAROLD C. SCHONBERG WEDNESDAY NIGHT in Avery Fisher Hall, Zubin Mehta gathered unto himself a chorus and addressed himself and the New York Philharmonic to a pair of masterpieces -- Schubert's Mass No. 5 in A flat and the much shorter "Te Deum" by Anton Bruckner. Both works were more than welcome, their intrinsic merits aside. We don't normally get this material on symphony programs. There is a theory in some symphony circles that audiences grow restive during long choral works. And, besides, they cost a lot of money to put on: soloists, a chorus... The last two Schubert Masses, in A flat and E flat, present a different side of the composer from that normally heard. They are big, confident and and dramatic. They are big, confident and dramatic. They have their full share of Schubert's ineffable lyricism and sweetness, but they also have a kind of power that many listeners associate only with the Ninth Symphony in C. The Mass in A flat is a relatively early work, but it contains a full arsenal of effects. It passes from the sweetness of the opening Kyrie to the dramatic thrust of the Gloria, the bouncing fugal passages in "Cum sancto spiritu," the jaunty Credo and the piercing lyric sadness of the Agnus Dei. Even the orchestra is much fuller and richer than in corresponding orchestral works of that period on Schubert's life. To many people, the Schubert Masses are unknown territory. Thank goodness for records. At least the Schubert Masses can be heard there. Completely different, of course, is the Bruckner "Te Deum," another piece familiar more through recordings than in the concert hall. Starting out in C major, getting almost immediately into typical Brucknerian chromaticism, making apocalyptic noises, it is Bruckner at his most visionary. Nor does it last as long as a typical Bruckner score. Mr. Mehta brought it in about 20 minutes, which is average. In both the Schubert and Bruckner scores, the solo quartet has very little solo work. There are no solos in all the Schubert; the singers have some measures here and there at which they are heard on their own, but for the most part they have to work in ensemble. In the Bruckner, the tenor is on his own for a while in the Te ergo; otherwise this work, too, has the singers going along as an ensemble unit. Kathleen Battle, Beverly Wolff, Seth McCoy and Simon Estes were the soloists. Each had something distinctive to contribute. Miss Battle, with her hard, clear, penetrating soprano, had a tendency to dominate the ensemble. Miss Wolff sang sensitively, blending beautifully with the other voices. In the Te ergo of the Bruckner, Mr. McCoy was a bit clumsy; his voice is not the most flexible of instruments. But he too is a sensitive singer who had the musicianship to hold up his end. Mr. Estes, back from Bayreuth, where he was the first black singer ever to take the role of the Flying Dutchman, delivered some impressively resonant low notes. As for Mr. Mehta, he was in complete control of orchestra, chorus and soloists. In the Bruckner he reveled in the opportunity to pile sonority on sonority. In this work, Bruckner calls for triple fortissimos all over the place, and Mr. Mehta took him at his word, as he did the lusty young singers of the Westminster Choir, who responded nobly. In the Schubert, of course, Mr. Mehta was closer to an early 19th-century style, though he did not attempt to present a shrinking-violet kind of Schubert. The drama and power of the music was ever-present in his mind, and he conveyed the thrust of the score. It was a fine evening of music, all the more delectable in that the two scores are heard so seldom in live performances with a great orchestra that they sounded like a new experience.