Inspiring unification and forgiveness
Tennyson Rodrigo
Giuseppe Verdi is arguably the greatest musical dramatist the world
has known and his Requiem is a monumental composition, imaginative and
powerfully theatrical.
Giuseppe Verdi |
After four long years in gestation, the vision of producing the
Requiem in Colombo was realized recently with a soaring performance that
will be talked about, written about and remembered for all time.
The resolve to perform the Requiem in Colombo on the scale envisioned
was as ambitious as would be in hosting an Olympic event. Some 150
national and international instrumentalists and vocalists were chosen to
perform this enormous work under the baton of Gregory Rose at the
Anglican Cathedral of Christ the Living Saviour. Unsurprisingly, the
word Requiem was buzzing with excitement as the media carried loads of
stories about the upcoming event. For many, there was intense
anticipation and excitement while others were breathlessly anxious about
securing a seat.
Admission was free and so was seating - a rare sweetener and a
fitting tribute to Dr Earle de Fonseka who left his estate to a trust
that sponsored the evening's performance.
At ten past seven
The performance was to start at 7.00 pm. Moments afterwards Ajit
Abeysekera spoke a few words about how the program would proceed. And
then of course nothing happened; the orchestra, singers and the audience
were immersed in an embarrassing suspense. Just before 7.10 pm the four
soloists emerged - the two sopranos in full splendour wrapped in their
gorgeous dresses and tenor and bass in full black. Under their shadow as
it were Conductor Gregory Rose followed unobtrusively.
It was a refreshing change to hear the National Anthem sung in full;
and that was a full-bodied rendering that mobilized all the resources
intended for the Requiem. The effect was striking and it also gave a
foretaste of the acoustics.
The configuration of movables inside the Cathedral had been
rearranged to position the large contingent of musicians and vocalists
into a packed mass. Big television screens had been strategically
installed possibly for the benefit of those seated outside the line of
sight of the performers.
Consequence
Hazardously criss-crossing audio, video and power cables connected to
cameras indicated that the performance was to be video-recorded. The
fact that the conductor's back faced the altar was an unintended
consequence.
Given that there was nothing much one could do about the concrete
columns and other hard surfaces inside the cathedral, the acoustics in
the main were good-to-excellent. I was awkwardly located about ten feet
obliquely in front of the soloists; hence the acoustic effects I
experienced might not have been the same from other positions.
The sound quality at very high dynamic levels in the low-frequency
ranges had no transparency at all. The full-blast dynamics of Dies irae
turned out to be a dense aural experience. On the other hand the
mid-to-high frequency ranges, particularly of the strings, produced a
deep and absolutely luscious tonal fabric of the right degree of
dryness.
(A good DVD of the live performance with dolby/dts multi-channel
encoding would "immortalize" this event and make it possible for those
who missed it to watch it from their living rooms. This could also be a
commercial opportunity).
Verdi's creativity and belief
The lavish Requiem is the most sacred work of the late nineteenth
century. It is not so much a statement of belief as it is a
transformation of the rich dramatic possibilities of the Latin text into
the language of the opera. Michael Steinberg, former program annotator
for several prestigious orchestras, believes that the Requiem is
nourished by opera, unimaginable without opera and ultimately
unperformable by conductors and singers who do not understand and adore
opera. In historian Peter Conrad's perception ......"Verdi hears
everyone at once and distributes music impartially to all men
alike....as if a god were listening to the polyphonic hubbub of the
human race".
Verdi was a non-believer if not an atheist and any doubt about the
separability of passionate creativity and belief is resolved here.
Even in the best of circumstances, casting soloists for Verdi's
Requiem has never been easy. Not many top sopranos in the world would
automatically qualify. Some believe that it demands an "Aida" voice with
dominating characteristics and yet capable of quiet, sensitive singing
and phrasing.
In Sri Lanka's western-music culture we do not have the luxury of
making choices in that way. What is gratifying for us is that all the
four soloists in the Requiem were from Asia and three of them were Sri
Lankans.
They showed skill and endurance to cope with the demands of a
large-scale work. Overall, Soprano Kishani Jayasinghe whilst carrying a
heavy load gave a sparkling performance that had class. With laser-beam
pitch accuracy she can target and sustain the highs and control
contrasting dynamics and colour effortlessly.
Mezzo soprano Gayathrie Patrick played her matching role with
character; her slightly darker and robust voice was an asset in the
high-energy parts of her singing. The Tenor Amar Muchhala and Bass
Dhilan Gnanadurai gave spirited performances.
The Requiem began with the cellos in a melodic sweep that whirled us
down to profound depths of religiousness; a gentle heartfelt prayer for
eternal rest was set against appealing sounds of the violins. The chorus
and soloists took turns to sing Kyrie eleison, the prayer for mercy,
with stirring power and imagination, ending magically with some tranquil
lines of harmony from the orchestra.
Dies irae reverberated in the cathedral with flutes, clarinets,
bassoons, strings and half-whispering choruses adding to the thunderous
percussion of the bass drums. And when the Tuba mirum followed, necks
turned around looking for the eerie-sounding off-stage trumpets.
For most listeners however they weren't visible though the sound was
audible. Quiet returned when the bass sang a brief but difficult Mors
stupebit - "Death and Nature shall stand amazed".
Recordare, delectably sung by the Soprano and the Mezzo was one of
the most irresistible moments in the program; though textually it is a
personal prayer to merciful Jesus, evocatively, it was operatic.
Operatic resonance
The two sopranos while physically apart were poignantly embraced in
song - Verdian passion was written all over it. Muchhala's aria
Ingemisco, sung with penetrating passion and whispering violins in the
background sustained that operatic resonance.
The raucous beginning of Sequenza came to a lamenting conclusion with
a magnificent rendering of Lacrimosa. The women soloists bewailed
breathlessly (Lacrimosa dies illa - "that day is one of weeping"),
pitching high above the mass of voices. The section came to an
engrossing end with a full-bodied "Amen" and a long chordal line from a
blend of strings and winds.
The chorus was silent for the Offertorio that commenced with an
ascending sweep of the cellos. Domine Jesu Christe began with great
fervour. The three lower voices had a long spell resting the soprano for
lofty things to come. It was Kishani Jayasinghe's finest hour and a
defining moment in the Requiem. With a breath-taking leap her lone voice
was suspended in the air as if the entire fate of the music hung
seemingly forever on the note she held.
That of course was ephemeral; equally dramatically her voice dropped
down a semitone and the tension was somewhat relieved. Here was Verdi at
his finest in creating gripping melodrama using the infinite vocabulary
of sound.
Hostias et preces took off powerfully with light radiating from the
tenor's opening solo and the bass taking the baton. The rest was
spacious singing by the four soloists with fugal elements and trills
adding to the richness.
The soprano's brief "soft highs" didn't go unnoticed. The section
ended with a gentle refrain from the flute and the strings that had a
nostalgic evocation. The atmosphere changed dramatically when blazing
trumpets and an assertive fugue from the chorus introduced the Sanctus
with jubilation.
After all the drama and high dynamics, the Agnus Dei, starting with
just plain voices, was mood-changing and sublimely beautiful. The Lux
aeterna once again was only for the three lower voices; here Gayathrie
Patrick's starting solo was absolutely lustrous and endearing with
tender and soft violins adding to the ambience. Shades of Requiem
aeternam returned with the bass's solemn declamation.
The final prayer
I suppose for want of a better word Libera me was the Epilogue to the
Requiem. Once again Soprano Jayasinghe (as the sole soloist) was under
the spotlight; but this time her task was to deliver to the world an
anguished plea for deliverance. And she didn't disappoint.
A murmuring chorus responded to her dramatic recitative and ariosa.
The Dies irae reprised with a torrential outburst of terror; the mood
changed with the return of a 'reengineered' Requiem aeternam. With
disarming expressiveness the soprano glided over the voices of an
unaccompanied chorus.
And then a high-voltage climax witnessed the explosion of blaring
trumpets while the chorus fired on all cylinders and the tireless
soprano reigned supreme in the territory of higher octaves.
The torrential storm at last ended and all the fury dissipated into
an intensely moving close; the soprano, chorus and the orchestra said
their final prayer in deep solemnity: just two words, Libera me,
repeated twice, held harmonically together over a long unbroken
interval. Their intense sonic imagery still resonates inside me.
Gregory Rose
For some Colombo ladies there is some magnetism in the persona of
Gregory Rose. His name conjures up silky-white locks of hair, delicious
eye lids and a floating presence that is hallucinatory.
But he is made of sterner stuff - to begin with, he was the presiding
deity and the gentle genius behind the overwhelming performance which
was a triumph of self-effacement. He is a versatile musician -
conductor, composer and experimenter with an extensive repertoire.
His discography includes CDs recorded on prestigious labels. It is
safe to assume that with the Requiem, Gregory Rose has cemented a strong
long-term bond with the Sri Lankan musical community. This is good for
all concerned.
Is there anything that the Requiem can offer to thousands of people
whose lives have been lost in battle or in consequence of it and to
others who are culturally, emotionally and intellectually disconnected
from the edifying impact of aesthetic experience? Yes, but only
symbolically.
Verdi's Requiem is a Roman Mass for the Dead - a ritualistic response
to the human drama of death and the door to eternal bliss. It also
embodies the human desire for forgiveness and mercy. Verdi left to the
world an enduring legacy of music, patriotism and honour. He was a
nationalist who yearned for the freedom and unification of Italy from
Austrian domination.
In all humility, I warmly embrace this wonderful performance and all
its participants to plead that a thought be spared for all those
affected victims, and to fervently hope that peace, reconciliation and
tolerance will return for all to live a normal life with security, and
for those still alive, the blossoming of a renewal to experience the
universal spirituality inherent in music. |