Hard on the heels of the Tribute to Glenn Gould last month, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra this evening paid tribute to another great Canadian musical icon, that of contralto Maureen Forrester, hosted by tenor and broadcaster Ben Heppner.
If there were some grumblings that the concert tribute to Gould appeared perfunctory, not so this evening. With Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, the TSO could not have chosen a more fitting piece to honour the great Forrester. It was one of her biggest successes. Her two commercial recordings, one with Fritz Reiner and the other with Bruno Walter are the stuff of legend. Then there’s also the live performance with the Boston Symphony conductor William Steinberg, and Jon Vickers who out-sang practically all the other tenors. In my opinion, these performances rank at the top of a very long discography of this great work.
Tonight we were treated to a fascinating intermission feature, with Mary Lou Fallis, a former student of Maureen’s, chatting with Linda Kash, one of Maureen’s daughters. It was a fun-filled 20 minutes of reminiscences. There was also a small display of photographs and one of her gowns in the lobby. I spoke with a few fellow audience members later, and they all said how much they enjoyed the chat and the display. I found the reminiscences funny yet poignant. I can’t claim to have known Forrester well, and the little bit I did know was in my capacity as a journalist in the last ten years of her life.
I interviewed Forrester for an article in Opera Canada in June 2000, on occasion of her receiving the Rubies (Opera Canada Awards). I believe that was the last interview she gave. And in the following two years, I saw her in social situations a few times. As dementia tightened its grip, she moved first briefly to Chester Village and then to Belmont House, where I visited her a few times. Those encounters left an indelible impression on me. Here was an individual, a legendary singer, someone who lived life to the fullest, as an artist and a person. I also attended the extremely memorable tribute concert in Stratford some years ago, organized by the then CBC music producer and former Ludwig Van writer Neil Crory.
Tonight’s program also included a 2-minute “Sesquie” piece by John Abram, and L’Aube, a world premiere/TSO Commission for orchestra and mezzo-soprano, by Howard Shore, known for his film scores and the opera, The Fly. L’Aube is a lyrical meditation on our natural world in five parts – Land, Water, Plants, Animals, and Ancestors. Thematically it dovetails nicely with Das Lied. It’s totally tonal and accessible, with adroit orchestral writing by Shore, nothing convoluted or intellectual — and I mean that in a good way. It’s also curiously un-theatrical, with no climax at the end — I suppose nature does not perform on command. Susan Platts sang with lovely smooth tone, though occasionally taxed in the lowest reaches of her range.
The centrepiece of the evening was the Mahler, one that calls for a huge — and brass-heavy — orchestra. Conductor Peter Oundjian led an exciting, clear, precise if loud reading of the score. I couldn’t help but felt he basically didn’t seriously rein in the orchestra in the climactic moments, particularly the brass section. The two loudest movements are the first and fifth, both assigned to the tenor. The lyric-voiced Michael Schade was repeatedly drowned out, leading to some stentorian singing to be heard. It underscores the need to assign this to a more dramatic voice. Platts didn’t have to deal with such extreme decibels, and she came off better. Her low mezzo is lovely, smooth, even, seamless, and cool in timbre, with a very fast vibrato that might be bothersome to some ears. Her “Abschied” was for me the highlight of the evening. Perhaps not quite a Mahler performance for the ages, but there were enough fine moments to make it a memorable evening.
The program is repeated Friday, Oct. 20 at 7:30 p.m. www.tso.ca
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