Dream Police - Seattle Gay News

Seattle Symphony
Orchestra: The great
Glagolitic Mass of
Janacek falls short
no longer has that power. His upper voice
appeared delicate, and he treated it very
carefully, so that he was often inaudible.
Mezzo Sarah Heltzel had so little to do that
it was not possible to assess her work.
Organist Joseph Adam (strangely uncredited
in the printed program!) had a
major solo (not shortened as in many
performances) and made as much of it as
the Watjen Organ would allow. (I prefer
the more gnarly sound a big baroque organ
might produce.)
The Glagolitic Mass of Leos Janacek is,
to these ears, one of the giant masterpieces
of the 20th century. It deserves the kind of
treatment it got from the Seattle Symphony
a few seasons ago, which was a performance
I don’t expect to be surpassed. That this
week’s attempt fell quite a bit short of
that level is regrettable. But the work is so
intensely magnificent that any chance to
hear it is to be prized. The sooner it returns
to Seattle, the better!
Reviewer Rod Parke can be reached at
rmp62@columbia.edu.
courtesy of Steiner Shots
2007 Seattle Dyke March
by Rod Parke
SGN A&E Writer
Christina Goerke
Activism on the Personal Level
An evening of Gyongyosi, Husa, and
Janacek doesn’t sell very well in Seattle.
Even though Benaroya Hall was only about
2/3 full, the audience was very responsive
to an excellent first half, even though hardly
anyone had ever heard this music before.
Levente Gyongyosi, born 1975, was
present to receive the enthusiastic applause
following a committed and rewarding
reading of his 2001 composition, The
Annunciation. Each of the five, very short
movements held our interest with its skilled
orchestration and varying textures. Clearly,
conductor Schwarz and the SSO players
had the many complexities well in hand, so
that the audience could revel in new sounds
and ideas. An expanded percussion section
delivered its major contributions with
aplomb.
Karel Husa, born 1921, wrote his Music
for Prague in 1968 in the 12-tone mode that
was so popular among composers at that
time. But, unlike so many of those overly
academic works in serialism, this one
transcended the dry intellectuality of its peers
and managed to be consistently compelling
of our interest. The kaleidoscopic variance
of orchestral colors alone was enough to
reward the listener.
While both works before the intermission
were well prepared and played, the glorious
Glagolitic Mass of Leos Janacek appeared
in parts to be the casualty of insufficient
rehearsal. Balances were sometimes sloppy.
The opening fanfare was a perfect example
of how Maestro Schwarz can too often
drain all the energy out of a great piece. It
totally lacked the intense energy he gave it
several seasons ago, with the all-important
brass playing limply in the background.
The lack of preparation in the orchestra was
all the more evident standing in contrast to
the excellence of everything that came from
George Fiore’s Seattle Symphony Chorale.
Their sound was a model of how to balance
beauty with intensity. Every word of the
Old Church Slavonic was clear, passionate,
and beautiful. And what gorgeous choral
writing we got from Janacek! Hearing those
sounds from the Symphony Chorale was
worth the price of admission alone.
Also excellent were the contributions of
soprano Christine Goerke (Seattle Opera’s
most recent Norma) and bass-baritone
Patrick Carfizzi. Janacek requires very
powerful voices to ride atop his complex
writing, and these two were more than equal
to the task. Gary Lakes’ tenor, however,
email: dykecommunityactivists@earthlink.net
website: www.home.earthlink.net/~dykecommunityactivists/id12.html
June 15, 2007
PRIDE ‘07 Music
Seattle Gay News
13