Monterey Symphony Ends its Season
by
Lyn Bronson
Joyce Guyer, Max Bragado & Douglas Botnick
Saturday night at Sherwood
Hall, Maestro Max Bragado directed the Monterey Symphony in a triumphant season
closer. It looked like a cast of thousands on stage as the musicians were joined
by the Monterey Symphony Chorus and the San Jose Symphonic Choir, ably directed
by the versatile Leroy Kromm. The big event of the evening was a performance of
the Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem. To
perform this large work takes an hour and ten minutes, and it was a testament to
its success that it seemed nowhere near that long. Also joining the musicians
and chorus for the event were soloists Joyce Guyer and baritone Douglas Botnick.
Although a requiem is
usually in Latin and associated with liturgical services of the Roman Catholic
Church, Brahms avoided the traditional Latin text and transformed this work into
a German Oratorio — and very Germanic it is, too, for its opening strains were
somewhat reminiscent of the German national anthem,
Deutschland über Alles.
It was an amazing feat for Mr. Kromm to have drilled 120 singers so well
that they managed to become a highly cohesive and effective chorus. The
performance we heard Saturday evening developed a cumulative intensity
throughout its duration and achieved a mighty climax in its sixth movement,
Denn wir haben hie keine bleibende,
followed by the lovely serene final movement. At its conclusion Maestro Bragado
gave a well deserved acclaim to the orchestra, chorus and soloists, and received
thunderous applause from the audience.
The concert began with a
performance of Howard Hanson’s Symphony No. 5, known as “Sinfomia
Sacra.” Although in name it is a
symphony, its brief duration of 15 minutes, makes it seem more like a symphonic
tone poem, although by any name it is an effective work with some lovely writing
for strings, winds, brass and percussion. There was a little something for
everybody, and it received a fine performance on this occasion.
