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Gems From Ludwig

Joseph Sargent on November 23, 2009
When it comes to Beethoven’s vocal music, the average listener’s familiarity is probably limited to a few classics: his opera Fidelio, the Missa solemnis, the final movement of Symphony No. 9. Yet a treasure trove of repertory lies hidden beneath these monuments — many vocal works, in fact, many of quite superior quality but habitually ignored except among specialists.
Paul Flight

It therefore comes as a refreshing surprise to see a young choral ensemble like Chora Nova bring a few of these pieces to light, complete with professional soloists and a solid chamber orchestra. Directed by Paul Flight, who in this ensemble’s fourth season demonstrates a penchant for programming well-known masterworks alongside underperformed repertory, Saturday’s performance at Berkeley’s First Presbyterian Church provided some revealing glances into music that deserves greater visibility.

For a community chorus, Chora Nova produces an unusually refined sound. There’s a polished, genteel quality to its tone, largely free of the rough edges that typically characterize such groups. The blend is generally smooth, the balance among voice parts good, the diction just fine. The chorus’ moderate size, meanwhile, allows for considerable flexibility in responding to dynamics and other interpretive gestures.

All these qualities were put to good use in the brief cantata Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, premiered in 1815 and set to poems by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The piece encompasses two basic moods. First is the calm sea of the title — not a tranquil calm but rather an eerie one, for the ship is dead in the water, lacking winds to propel it back to shore. The mood was nicely evoked first by the orchestra and then by the chorus in still, solemn tones. Strident cries, as the ship’s sailors wonder whether the winds will come to rescue them, resounded with haunting effect in Chora Nova’s rendition. A sudden sustained outburst of joy heralds the arrival of favorable winds and shifts the piece into jubilant celebration. Chorus and orchestra alike attacked this section with aplomb, sustaining a mood of unrelenting energy.

A Palette of Choral Colors

The expansive Mass in C, commissioned by Prince Nikolaus Esterházy in 1807, was likely a failure at its premiere; the prince was unenthusiastic, enraging Beethoven. His patron's dismissal notwithstanding, the Mass is actually one of Beethoven’s choral gems, displaying great expressivity, stylistic variety, and attention to text-painting details. Beethoven offers in this piece a scintillating palette of colors, and Chora Nova generally did well in bringing out the various hues.

The opening Kyrie had a warm, rich quality, while the Gloria and Credo showcased the chorus’ ability to convey diverse moods, from the vigorous opening exhortations of “Gloria” to the morose strains of the “Crucifixus” section within the Credo. Later highlights included vivid contrasts between the solemn “Sanctus” and the buoyant “Pleni sunt coeli,” sung with full-throated fervor, and the Agnus Dei, punctuated with delicate woodwind melodies. Closing fugues at the end of most movements were uniformly lithe, the counterpoint conveyed with crystal-clear precision.

A strong quartet of soloists (soprano Michele Byrd, mezzo-soprano Lisa van der Ploeg, tenor Brian Thorsett, and bass Adam Cole) handled several featured passages nicely and proved to be vocally well-matched. The biggest trick of the evening was coordination among soloists, orchestra, and chorus; certain transitions between sections proved troublesome to negotiate, and entrances across the performance occasionally sounded tentative.

Closing the concert was another seldom-performed work, the Elegiac Song of 1814. This piece commemorates the death of Eleanore von Pasqualati, wife of Baron Johann, a stalwart Beethoven supporter who often welcomed the composer into his home for extended stays. Beethoven closely matches musical moods with the text of this intimate ode, and Chora Nova responded with solemn opening declamations of the deceased woman’s gentle life, a pronounced cry of grief on “zu heilig für den Schmerz” (too holy for pain) and a bright turn on “hillmischen Geistes Heimkehr” (heavenly spirit now homeward bound).