San Francisco Classical Voice

While the subject of national elections is still hot, let me suggest that if the individual works of Saturday night's San Jose Symphony all-Mozart program were voted on by the members of the Mozart Society of America (there really is such an organization), no recount would be necessary. On paper, at least, the program was an example of perfect music by the perfect composer. South Bay music lovers must have thought so too, because the SJ Center for Performing Arts was packed.

The overture to Mozart's penultimate opera, La Clemenza di Tito, is not played as frequently as the overture to its chronological neighbor, The Magic Flute, but it is an exciting work that acts as an effective concert opener. The Piano Concerto in A, K. 488, a middle-period composition, doesn't have a bad note in it. And the program's final work, the Requiem in D, has no rival in the "late-work" category, precisely because it is Mozart's last composition, an incomplete "Opus Ultimum" of tragic history, and a work of which most music lovers never seem to get enough — including me!

The soloist for the concerto was Joseph Kalichstein, an artist of exceptional depth. He took a work given to every teenage piano student as his or her first try at a "simple" concerto and showed the treasures found in such stuff when explored by a very mature and polished musician with feather-light hands. The man did little wrong: his pedaling was discreet, his execution flawless, his interpretation comforting. While I would have been happier if he had improvised at measures 85–91 (at least) of the exquisite slow movement (where Mozart's invitation to do so is unambiguous), what Kalichstein played was so effective that I'll live with it.

Unfortunately, the orchestral accompaniment under conductor Leonid Grin's direction was a disappointment. Though I believe he likes this music, he has no affinity for it, and its nuances elude him. In the last 30 days, I have heard performances of two Mozart piano concertos conducted by Grin, one on the October 20–22 series with Aleksander Serdar's unsatisfactory interpretation of K. 467, and this weekend's K. 488 with Joseph Kalichstein's magnificent solo playing. In both cases, the orchestral accompaniment was uninspired.

Particularly distressing for this weekend's concert was the first movement's exceedingly fast tempo that robbed the music of its repose, coupled with the fact that orchestral volume obscured much of Kalichstein's passagework. Fortunately, that problem did not recur for the later movements, because the soloist sets the tempo for those, not the conductor. Special praise goes to the wind section for the stunning ensemble playing in the final movement. In the slow movement, a brief but magic moment that occurs at two special places, involving consecutive solo passages for clarinet (Michael Corner), bassoon (Deborah Kramer), and flute (Maria Tamburrino, was breathtaking.

Because the Requiem was incomplete at the composer's death, every conductor must choose one of the at least half-dozen editor's completions, which differ in significant ways. The one with the most technical infelicities is that by Franz Süssmayr. Grin wisely chose to join the many conductors who no longer use it. Instead he selected the contemporary edition of Franz Beyer, which cleans up many — though not all — of the problems found in the older version.

Unfortunately, the selection of an edition did not, by itself, ensure a good performance. The excessively Romanticized reading Saturday had some movements played so rapidly as to cause the players and chorus to stumble. Neither the singers nor the trombones could execute effectively at the chosen speed in the "Cum sanctis tuis" fugue. Slow movements were so sluggish that the performance became a taffy-pull without pulse, for example, in the "Lacrimosa". The tempo of the “Tuba mirum" was so lethargic that the bass soloist almost ran out of breath on a held low note. There was even a small train wreck before the final presentation of the "Quam olim Abrahae" fugue, when either the violins missed a cue or an expected one was not given.

The soloists — soprano Marvis Martin, alto Jacalyn Kreitzer, tenor Algirdas Janutas, and bass Benno Schollum — were uniformly good and well matched. But with Martin there was something unique: a world-class instrument of such beautiful character that I gasped on first hearing it, so magnificent was the outpouring of refined, elegant sound.

Two choruses were used: one the San Jose State University Choraliers and Concert Choir under the codirection of Charlene Archibeque and Elena Sharkova, the other the San Jose State University Chorale, under Sharkova's direction. Clearly the men and women of the chorus enjoyed singing, and, impressively, several even had the entire work memorized. But the rhythms were often inaccurate, particularly dotted rhythms, for example, the "Rex tremendae." The size of the chorus — about 150 people — would have been more appropriate for either the Berlioz or Verdi Requiem, compositions created for concert production. But for the Mozart Requiem, a work designed solely for liturgical use, With such a large chorus the vocal lines tended to go out of focus.

(Musicologist/author Dan Leeson is a former member of the San Jose Symphony Orchestra, a retired businessman, and an editor of the 220-volume complete Mozart edition published by Bärenreiter.)

©2000 Dan Leeson, all rights reserved