SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL CONCERT REVIEW
 

An Outstanding St. John Passion at the Chicago Symphony: Karina Gauvin, soprano, David Daniels, countertenor, Nicholas Phan, tenor, Tilman Lichdi, tenor, Nathan Berg, bass-baritone, Neal Davies, bass, Chicago Symphony Chorus, Duain Wolfe, director, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Bernard Labadie, conductor. Symphony Center, Chicago 13.3.2010 (JLZ) 

J. S. Bach: St. John Passion, BWV 245

(In two parts, performed with intermission)

 

This  performance of J. S. Bach’s St. John Passion, BWV 245, brought a masterpiece back into the CSO program, and the result was an intensive, musically compelling, and deeply moving reading of this familiar score. While this work has been performed periodically by the CSO since 1952, the present performance is notable for the outstanding international soloists involved, as well as the leadership of Bernard Labadie, who directed the piece with vigor and intensity. His emotional engagement with the score was intensely apparent as choral numbers, recitatives  and arias flowed seamlessly. Breaks, when they occurred were at points which made sense musically, and so the recitative functioned as it should, in connecting up the more extended pieces and presenting the narrative text. Labadie’s deft touch was evident from the start, in which he brought  the various elements of the second number together into a cohesive whole, thus allowing all of the drama in Bach’s depiction of Jesus’ betrayal to come fully to life. The soloists were as attentive to the pacing as if this had been a staged opera.

The soloists were uniformly impressive for various reasons. Karina Gauvin, who sang with the CSO for a performance of Mozart’s Requiem several seasons ago, gave a fine reading of the aria in the first part of this Passion, No. 9 “Ich folge dir gleichfalls,” with subtle phrasing and a pleasing tone. In this piece Bach’s tone painting to illustrate the concept of ‘following’ has some imitative passages between singer and two flutes, and here the instrumentalists worked particularly well with Ms Gauvin. Her aria in the second part, No. 35 “Zerfließe, mein Herze” was also persuasive and the ease with which she delivered it contributed a further dimension to its overall effect.

David Daniels was  impressive in both his arias, No. 7 “Von den Stricken meiner Sünde” and No. 30 “Es ist vollbracht!” He conveyed the emotions intended for each piece most expressively, and was particularly effective in the latter which comments on Jesus’ death on the cross. Daniels made the phrase “Es ist vollbracht” itself, Jesus very last words of course, truly poignant. Yet the middle section of the aria, “Der Held aus Juda” was sung in a contrastingly triumphant style that hinted at the resurrection, a shift in affect which allowed Daniels to infuse the reprise of  “Est ist vollbracht” with even greater pathos. This was a powerful moment in a performance that was marvellously well conceived.

Likewise, Nathan Berg made his own two arias come to life with his incisive diction. The impassioned delivery of No. 24 “Eilt, ihr eingefochtnen Seelen” really did give the impression of an opera aria, and the subtle interjections by the chorus (“Wohin?”) sounded almost spontaneous. Something similar effect occurred in the later  aria, No. 32 “Mein teurer Heiland,” when the superimposed chorales serve as commentary on this meditation about the saving act of the crucifixion. Berg delivered the text and musical line powerfully in both pieces.

Tenor Nicholas Phan replaced the ailing Werner Güra, and gave a fine reading to the aria No. 34 “Mein Herz in dem ganzen Welt”, and was also impressive in no. 20 “Erwäge wie sein blutgefärbten Rücken” With the latter, his delivery of the word “erwäge” (imagine…) might have benefited if he had lingered a while or otherwise emphasized the verb itself, to allow the audience to think about the lines that follow. Even so, he was otherwise more than clear in presenting the text with committed conviction.

The German tenor Tilman Lichdi deserves singular attention for his role as the Evangelist. As a native German speaker, he sang the sometimes lengthy passages of recitative, with exactly the sort of phrasing that made the texts intelligible without reference to the libretto provided in the program. Lichdi was even and consistent throughout, and the passages in the upper register of his voice were effortless. In the melismatic passages that Bach allots the Evangelist too, Lichdi gave every one of his lines the distinction that they deserve.

As Christ, Neal Davies was clear and distinguished, his solid delivery conveying all the sense of dignity found within St John’s narrative and Daniel Eifert brought a similar sense of honour to role of Pontius Pilate.

The Chicago Symphony Chorus gave an outstanding performance in the sometimes demanding pieces for massed singers in this score. They brought vigor to the relatively short interjections of the crowd, yet made the individual choruses always sensitive and touching through their uniformly fine diction and unshakeable sense of pitch. The fugue in No. 21 “Wir haben ein Gesetz” was especially memorable for its clear contrapuntal lines, which stand apart from the usually homophonic chorales but the CSO Chorus performed everything with finesse. In the chorales, even the more subdued passages remained exciting because of clear presentation of their text and the singers' ringing harmonies.

Unusual though it is to find Bach’s St. John Passion as part of the program for a symphony orchestra, the result here was one of the finest concerts of the season. When this work or other large-scale choral pieces are performed outside of concert halls, it is often difficult to hear anything resembling the solid accompaniment provided the CSO, though the work’s instrumental passages certainly deserve the polished ensemble that this orchestra brought to them. The continuo was nicely rendered, and the inclusion of the viola da gamba brought welcome additional color to the usual strings. While this was by no means an attempt to recreate the performing forces of Bach’s day, it showed that effective expression of the work is more than possible with larger forces and a set of uniformly fine soloists.

Bernard Labadie deserves praise for a memorable account of a score in which a monumental setting of the Passion came fully to life for an attentive and appreciative audience.

James L Zychowicz