St. Matthew Passion
by
Lyn Bronson
It was a lovely afternoon last Sunday, when hundreds of
people filed into Sunset Center Theater to hear a deeply felt performance of one
of Bach’s great masterpieces, the St.
Matthew Passion. On stage under the direction of the Carmel Bach Festival’s
Conductor, Maestro Bruno Weil, were the combined resources of the Festival
Orchestra, the Chorale, the Festival Chorus plus a Youth Chorus and many
distinguished soloists.
No matter how many times we hear the
St. Matthew Passion, we can’t fail to
be moved, not only by the work itself, but also by the greatness of Bach’s
inspiration, his craftsmanship, and the intensity of his spiritual commitment
that nurtured this work and brought it to fruition. In the
St. Matthew Passion we experience a
great drama, whose outcome is known to us all, but in the retelling of the story
we are passionately drawn into the story, and for many people it will reaffirm
their own personal faith.
Throughout this intense, almost three-hour, experience, I
marveled at the magnificent performances of the Festival Chorus, Chorale and
Youth Chorus. Most choruses are composed of unpaid volunteers who come together
for a specific performance, and they often start rehearsing a few months before
the final performance. I once heard the distinguished choral conductor Howard
Swan giving a pep talk to members of a chorus the night before the final
rehearsals of a performance of the Duruflé
Requiem. He said to them that he
really valued their participation in a very special way, for they were amateurs
singing voluntarily in a chorus because they loved the experience. On the
following day in would come the soloists and orchestra members for the final two
rehearsals, and for them it was an entirely different experience, more of a gig
for which they were compensated. Swan predicted that each member of the chorus
during the final performance would sing at a level way beyond their normal
expectations. He also predicted that having been a part of a great choral work
would be a profoundly moving experience that would stay with them for the rest
of their lives.
Certainly one of the most important aspects of the Bach
Festival’s creation of a Youth Chorus is precisely this thinking – that these
young singers would have a unique opportunity to perform shoulder to shoulder
with older and more experienced choristers and more importantly have the
profound experience being a part in the preparation of a great masterpiece for
public performance. I envy the experience of these young fresh voices coming
together for this great effort, and I hope it
will be an experience they treasure
all their lives.
In all other respects we heard a fine
St. Matthew Passion with excellent
arias and recitatives by many distinguished singers, excellent obbligato solos
by various members of the orchestra and excellent supertitles by Mr. Gordon.
Always in the background lurked the spiritual presence of the late Sandor Salgo,
who did so much to develop the Carmel Bach Festival into an internationally
respected festival whose attendance grew right along with its fame. We remember
that Dr. Salgo in his last years began to slow down many of his performances,
but with a new hand at the helm, we see today an entirely new attitude toward
the great masterpieces of Johann Sebastian Bach, and the future looks great.
