Avery Fisher
Hall at Lincoln Center, Orchestra (Seat T105, $53.50.)
Program
The Creation
(1796-98) by Haydn (1732-1809).
Artists
Sarah Tynan,
soprano; Thomas Cooley, tenor; John Relyea, bass.
Concert Chorale
of New York, James Bagwell, director.
Given our being
away so much so far this summer, that we were able to attend the sixth (if the
opera “Written on Skin” is included) concert of the 49th Mostly
Mozart Festival was quite a feat.
Perhaps because this was also the conclusion of the Festival, there was
this intangible excitement and buzz in the air that I thought was quite
fitting. I continue to admire the
ability of this group of musicians to put forward a large number of programs in
a few short weeks, and many of the pieces are technically quite challenging.
The oratorio is
divided into three parts that follow an orchestral introduction called “The
Representation of Chaos” describing the progression from the inchoate cosmos to
the first appearance of light. Part I
describes the first four days where the heavens, the earth, and the plants were
created. Part II depicts the fifth and
sixth days, in which sentient life (including animals and, of course, humans)
was created. In Part III Adam and Eve
surveyed the creation and joined with the angels in praising the Creator.
The libretto,
likely originally prepared for Handel, was about 50 years old when it was
handed to Haydn during his second visit to England; it was amended by Gottfried
van Swieten, who also prepared a German translation that preserved the prosody
of the original
The male
soloists were substitutes for the originally programmed Andrew Staples (tenor)
and Brindley Sherratt (bass.) Since I do
not know either of them, I don’t know if it was an “upgrade” or a “downgrade.” We have seen Relyea several times before in
operas. In Parts I and II the voices
represented angels: Raphael – bass, Uriel – tenor, and Gabriel – soprano. The bass and the soprano became Adam and Eve
in Part III; Uriel had a couple of recitatives.
A member of the chorale (Erin Kemp, alto) was added to form a quartet at
the end.
Our seats were
reasonably close to the stage, so all the sounds came across quite well. It didn’t start all that auspiciously, as the
orchestra was a bit uneven (e.g., the upbow notes in the violins.) That might have been an intentional way to
depict chaos, although I doubt Haydn would have constructed his music that
way. The orchestra eventually settled
down, and put in a good performance.
There were quite a few passage where only a few instruments (flute,
clarinet, etc.) were used to accompany the singer, and those were pleasantly
executed. The continuo of cello and
fortepiano also had some great moments.
The singers did
a marvelous job, projecting their voices well.
They didn’t need to show a huge range of emotions as the mood of the
entire oratorio is positive (we never got to Satan tempting Eve with an “apple”.) I don’t know how much warning they had about
the need for substitutes, but other than the occasional glance at the scores,
there was little indication that these gentlemen were last-minute stand-ins
(perhaps they weren’t.) I did feel the
tenor’s voice showed some strain towards the end; let’s hope he recovers for
the second performance.
The Chorale sang
the part of angels, and sang well. The
only issue I would haggle over is perhaps better diction. We saw the same group last year, and they
also had men and women in “mixed” formation; it was even more pronounced today.
The annotator
(Peter Hoyt) for this program put in a succinct and clear Snapshot, but was exasperating
in his main commentary. I was close to
sneering when he started to argue the music was part of the Enlightenment
movement as it puts reason in a prominent position, and really shook my head
when he then describes this as a likely “Counter-Enlightenment” composition
that advocates the proper use of reason (to praise God.) What’s wrong with taking words written by
someone and setting it to great music?
Do we need to decipher if Haydn had a deeper message to convey,
especially since we don’t/won’t know what that message is? And is it necessary to use such big words as “inchoate”
and “prosody?” (Words I stole earlier.)
I couldn’t find
a review of the performance (too early,) but did see a glowing review of a
performance in the 2009 Festival. They
wore white jackets then!
[Note added on 8/31: Here is the NY Times review of the concert. The reviewer is "intrigued" by Hoyt's analysis.]
Anne and I both
recall having heard The Creation in New Haven some years before, during the
years we visited our daughter quite often while she was a student. She graduated in 2005, and I couldn’t find
any reference to the performance in this blog that started in April of that
year – so it was at least ten years ago that we heard it. We aren’t sure whether it was at the Yale
auditorium or some other venue. Of
course I don’t remember much about that performance, but I do remember thinking
that it was a complex composition at that time.
Not so today.
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