San Francisco Classical Voice

February 27, 1999

Mark Carlson

The West Coast premiere of Mark Carlson's short Mass: Christ in Majesty highlighted the Masterworks Chorale concert on Saturday evening before an audience of several hundred in the large, aesthetically and acoustically depressing San Mateo Performing Arts Center.

Chorale director Richard Garrin and soloists also offered a pleasing if not very inspired version of Mozart's Mass in C Major, "Coronation").

Carlson, present for the performance, is a graduate of UCLA and now a faculty member there. His work, commissioned in 1987 by the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C., is a missa brevis, consisting of only three parts--Kyrie, Gloria and Agnus Dei--and largely in English.

Musically, this mass for chorus and orchestra is a pastiche of sounds and styles. It moves from often soft and sliding dissonance with the Greek text Kyrie eleison through short, almost schmaltzy melodies in some English-language passages--Lord have mercy and Grant us peace. Except for occasional thudding percussion and seemingly frivolous moments in the Agnus Dei, the music, with a modern and refreshing sound, captures a devotional spirit suitable for a church service. Chorus and orchestra performed the Carlson with commitment and enthusiasm.

The performance of the Mozart was plainly more problematical. Placed at the back of the stage, the chorus often sounded as if it were singing behind a curtain. Though the chorus at times caught the beauty and spirit of the music, words and phrases were often muddled. The four soloists have been heard locally with Opera San Jose, West Bay Opera, "Pocket Opera" and the San Francisco Opera's Merola program. Though they stood in front of the orchestra, mezzo-soprano Lisa van der Ploeg and bass-baritone Maris Vipulis in particular managed to project only a portion of the small parts assigned to these voices.

Soprano Julie Ness had a smooth and lovely voice but an unevenly expressive sense of phrasing. Robert McPherson had a bright tenor and a vibrancy that was sometimes lacking in the other soloists and the chorus. The contractor and principal trumpet, Carole Klein, had assembled a good orchestra with first chairs and sections that added color and variety, particularly in the Carlson. Still, the instruments too often overpowered the chorus and, at times, the soloists.

I was left wondering how many of the problems of balance, phrasing and spirit, especially in the Mozart, were the responsibility of the director and how much was owing to the ugly, barn-like theater. I departed wishing I could have heard this performances in a large local church.

(William Ratliff, a Senior Research Fellow at Stanford University, is a former music critic of The Peninsula Times Tribune and stringer for The Los Angeles Times and Opera News.)

©1999 William Ratliff, all rights reserved