Symphony review: Masterworks 8 gives vibrant vocal performance for Haydn’s oratorio ‘The Creation’
With Music Director James Lowe as their guide, audiences at Spokane Sympony masterworks concerts have been led through every psychological state one can imagine: anxiety, exultation, rage, delight, fear, depression and triumph. The vehicles for reaching these varied destinations have been, for the most part (Mozart is an exception to this, as to all other generalizations), pieces of music composed after 1800; that is to say, works of the Romantic period and later. This season’s eighth masterworks concert Saturday and Sunday at the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox was devoted to a single work – Joseph Haydn’s oratorio “The Creation” (1797) – and presented us with something remarkably, and wonderfully, different.
“The Creation” is a work composed entirely in a state of joyful gratitude. Doubt and uncertainty simply do not exist in the universe created for us, thereby Haydn, a devout Catholic throughout his life (1732-1809), inscribed “In nomine Domini (In the name of the Lord)” at the beginning and “Laus Deo (Praise be to God)” at the end of every one of his hundreds of compositions.
Like all oratorios, “The Creation” is for chorus, solo vocalists and orchestra. Haydn considered it to be his most important work, and so employed every resource at his command. In these performances, the Spokane Symphony was joined by the Spokane Symphony Chorale, directed by Meg Stolmann. The demanding solo parts were taken by soprano Dawn Wolski, tenor Brad Bickhardt and bass Charles Robert Stephens. It relates the creation of the world as described in the Book of Genesis as well as the story of Adam and Eve as described by English poet John Milton (1608-1674) in his Christian epic, “Paradise Lost” (1648-63). ”The Creation” is a long work but never tiresome because of the rich variety of forms it contains: solo arias, picturesque narrative, dramatic dialogue and, of course, thrilling choruses. Haydn composed the work to be premiered in London and published the text in both English and German, the first instance of this practice in history. Spokane audience enjoyed the benefit of hearing the entire work in English. Still, to provide maximum clarity, Lowe chose to have supratitles projected above the proscenium, knowing that even the best diction can fail to make sung English entirely understandable.
Briefly, the text divides the six days of creation into two segments – four days in Part 1 and two days in Part 2 – and devotes a third segment (note the trinitarian symbolism) to the creation of Adam and Eve. As an introduction to Part 1, Haydn provided what has proved to be the most celebrated portion of “The Creation”: An orchestra prelude depicting the chaos that prevailed before God speaks his first creative sentence: “Let there be light.” This prelude is a work of astounding ingenuity, quite unprecedented in musical history, though familiar to local audiences through exposure to many modern- and present-day works that are composed without a tonal center.
In this crucial section, Lowe moved the music forward with persistent energy through Haydn’s succession of dead-end modulations, unresolved cadences and dissonant harmonies seeking resolution. At last, the voice of Stephens, in the part of the angel Raphael, narrated God’s creation of light with a single sentence, confirmed thrillingly by both chorus and orchestra in the C major, fortissimo resolution we were waiting for: “And there was light.” Here, as throughout the work, Lowe led these large forces with assurance, never allowing the forward pulse to disappear, but maintaining it as a sign of the spirit of buoyant optimism which is at the heart of this wonderful work. If there were anything more one could have asked, it would be that some of the solo instrumental detail that Haydn sprinkles throughout “The Creation” could have been allowed to stand out more clearly in the instrumental texture. In particular, we would have benefited from flutist Julia Pyke’s superb rendition of the expressive passages Haydn gives the flute if they had been less covered by the playing of the strings and brass. Much the same could be said for some details in the parts for clarinet, bassoon and oboe, performed respectively on Saturday by Daniel Cotter, Lynn Feller-Marshall and Keith Thomas. One has no doubt that, had more time been available to rehearse this tremendously complex work, these balance issues would have been eliminated.
As proof, one need only consider the performance of the very difficult choral parts by the Spokane Symphony Chorale, which was, to these ears, utterly flawless. Not only were the basics of diction and intonation in place, but so was every element of musicianship. Entries were crisp, rhythm was immaculately synchronized with the orchestra and, most important, tone was consistently fresh, vital and youthful, in keeping with Lowe’s celebratory view of the work.
We are grateful for every opportunity to hear the singing of Wolski, former Inland Northwest Opera director, professor of voice at Eastern Washington University and wife of symphony Concertmaster Mateusz Wolski. Her assumption of the soprano part in “The Creation” was further evidence of her ability to perform in perfect style, regardless of the period, language or form of the work at hand. Her ability to negotiate the vocal gymnastics of Haydn’s florid writing for Eve, as well as the warmer, more intensely lyrical passages in the long duet with Adam testifies to very remarkable versatility.
From the first phrase we heard from tenor Bickhardt, it was apparent that his is a voice of exceptional beauty, with admirable reserves of power and tonal variety to draw on. While he always sang with great assurance, there were several passages in which he failed to project his voice through the entire length of a phrase, allowing it to be covered by Haydn’s very active instrumental accompaniment. Bickhardt is at the start of what will no doubt be a notable career. Further experience with the peculiar demands of oratorio singing will no doubt resolve such imperfections in the management of a very remarkable instrument.
Of both great personal gifts and long experience, one could hardly find a better example than Stephens, who has appeared often in Spokane and will, one hopes, continue to do so. He performed the roles of Raphael and Adam with the dramatic vividness and attention to textual nuance of a singer of lieder, or art-song. It must be said that there are very many passages of the English text of “The Creation” that are extremely awkward and unidiomatic, to the point that they threaten the enjoyment of what Haydn created. In Stephen’s hands, however, even such preposterous passages as “In long dimension creeps with sinuous trace the worm” are made engaging and persuasive. Seemingly without effort, he projects verbal nuance to the very back of the auditorium, while remaining perfectly in balance with the orchestra and his colleagues, as in the aforementioned duet with Dawn Wolski/Eve. His presence brought to the text the sense of unity and continuity that James Lowe sought and – as evidenced by the wild applause that greeted the conclusion of the concert – achieved in his interpretation of Joseph Haydn’s last great masterpiece.