Concert
Schola Cantorum Jubilate;
Marvic Monreal, mezzo-soprano; Albert Buttigieg, bass;Simone Vebber, organ; Britt Arend, harp;
Members of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, dir. Chris Muscat
Robert Samut Hall
The music of Maurice Duruflé rarely makes it to our concert halls, which is a pity. Amends of sorts were made during a well-attended concert last weekend when a major work of his was performed, the Requiem, Op. 9. An added bonus came with two brief works from his Op.10, the Tantum Ergo and Ubi Caritas.
One remembers the familiar Tantum Ergo from preconciliar days and rare occasions thereafter. They are based on the Gregorian chant which practically permeates most of Duruflé’s sacred music. Both were sung in flowingly reverential ease by the choir from Xagħra.
Schola Cantorum Jubilate’s hard work has contributed to its merited consolidation as one of our island’s leading choirs
Soothing and devotional in every way, the young and dynamic choir sang with great style, a characteristic maintained throughout the concert and certainly much to the credit of the energetic choirmaster Mark Gauci and the overall collaboration with director Chris Muscat.
Before launching into the evening’s main work, Muscat provided some very useful information about the Requiem. This work, which dates from 1947, had no less than three more versions by the composer and the version heard this evening was the one he made in 1961. It is scored for organ, harp, three trumpets, percussion and strings.
Right from the initial Requiem aeternam (Introitum), the choir maintained admirable balance, as did the orchestra, and set the way things were to continue throughout the rest of the work.
This is probably the only Requiem I have heard which has no long Dies Irae movement. There was no ‘day of vengeance or wrath’, no terror where normally expected.
However, in the Domine Jesu Christe (Offertorium) which followed a Kyrie Eleison not devoid of some well-wrought climaxes, there were some very strong moments when fear of some kind of reckoning was expressed by anguished souls.
Albert Buttigieg rendered a fine solo, Hostias et preces tibi, Domine, a section made even more effective by tremolo violas which eventually led to a serene conclusion by the sopranos in Quam olim Abrahae. The glorious Sanctus witnessed a great climax with all sections contributing with tremendous force, produced by some well-controlled singing that never reduced to shouting.
I had heard Marvic Monreal singing soprano at a couple of MCI concerts recently, an experience which was very revealing. I was not mistaken in believing that she had great potential. Her voice, incredibly rich, warm, expressive and voluminous, made me think that there is a dramatic soprano in the making. One hopes that singing mezzo-soprano is the right way for her and towards the end of her solo Pie Jesu, it was difficult to say whether the final, low notes were not strong enough or whether the orchestra could have possibly been slightly too loud. She is a singer worth watching out for in any case.
Both the Agnus Dei and the Lux aeterna (Communio) were serene, very crisply phrased and a real delight to the ear. The prominence of the trumpets coloured the opening of the Libera me with considerable excitement with Buttigieg having some telling exchanges with the chorus in Tremens factus sum ergo et timeo. A verse from the Dies Irae does creep into the Paradisum, making a forceful appearance towards the highly accomplished and satisfying conclusion.
Schola Cantorum Jubilate’s hard work has contributed to its merited consolidation as one of our islands’ leading choirs.
Setting the Lenten mood at the very beginning of the concert was Vivaldi’s rather lugubrious brief Sinfonia in B minor, RV 169 aptly titled Al santo Sepolcro: sober, staid and, of course, highly devotional.