Soundstreams. Morton Feldman: Rothko Chapel. Cecilia Livingston: mark (premiere). Steven Dann, viola. Soundstreams Choir 21, David Fallis, conductor. TD Music Hall, Nov. 10.
Rothko Chapel: These words can denote either an ecumenical centre in Houston housing 14 paintings by the abstract expressionist Mark Rothko (1903-1970) or a piece written in 1971 by Morton Feldman (1926-87) with this famous space in mind.
On Friday, the Soundstreams organization opened its season in the TD Music Hall with a concert that revived the intractable question of why some pieces (like Rothko Chapel) work and others do not.
Feldman was a minimalist in the truest sense of that overused term, a composer who deployed quiet and fragmentary scraps of music carefully over disproportionately generous spans of time. The style reached an apotheosis with his four-and-a-half-hour (or longer) String Quartet No. 2, which was given its 1983 premiere in Toronto by the then-unknown Kronos Quartet under the auspices of New Music Concerts.
Rothko Chapel, for choir and three instrumentalists, clocks in at only 30 minutes, although it seemed longer on this occasion. That sounds like a criticism. It might mean rather that the performers had adapted themselves uncommonly well to the glacial pace of the goings-on.
What went on? Not much. A few strokes from the viola (Steven Dann), a quiet roll from the timpani (Ryan Scott), an occasional tinkle from the celesta (Gregory Oh). The ear was far from satisfied with the stimulus but the mind somehow made amends. Arguably a similar dynamic applies to the appreciation of a Rothko canvas.
It helped that the Soundstreams Choir 21, standing on the sides, induced an appropriate state of semi-hypnosis with their dissonant humming. Credit also the lucid vocal solos and the conductor David Fallis, who did his job inconspicuously from the rear. What was the meaning of that coda, in which the viola suddenly broke out with an elegiac melody over a busy pattern on the marimba? A synagogue chant the composer heard as a teenager, we are told in the (digital only) program notes. More food for thought.
After intermission, we heard the premiere of mark, a piece of comparable length written for the same forces by Cecilia Livingston, composer-in-residence at the Canadian Opera Company. The beginning was promising, as the ambulatory chorus created a Tower-of-Babel texture of overlapping voices.
What followed was less original, a few glissandi notwithstanding. Nor did the instrumental contributions (including a good deal of scratchy writing for viola) offer much interest. Poetry by Duncan McFarlane was supposed to be inspired by Rothko, but much of the imagery — mountain, moon, sea — related to the natural world. (“The bright divide,” the words chosen as the concert title, were exceptional.) The vocal soloist was listed in the program as a baritone. He made more of an impression as an actor.
There was a modest set (Tim Albery was the director) consisting of a ramp with some stones. Again, the link to Rothko was elusive. Projections were surprisingly limited. We saw the dark Chapel canvasses during an introductory playback of Peter Gabriel’s song “Fourteen Black Paintings.” Later, we saw images by Goya, Picasso and Matisse. But anyone who arrived expecting an audio-visual extravaganza was disappointed.
After some opening remarks by Soundstreams artistic director Lawrence Cherney, Adrienne Clarkson and John Ralston Saul spoke to the crowd about their Institute for Canadian Citizenship and its efforts to make the arts accessible to newcomers. It sounded like a worthy initiative.
Are you looking to promote an event? Have a news tip? Need to know the best events happening this weekend? Send us a note.
#LUDWIGVAN
Get the daily arts news straight to your inbox.
Sign up for the Ludwig Van Toronto e-Blast! — local classical music and opera news straight to your inbox HERE.
- SCRUTINY | Moussa Concerto Sounds Strong In Toronto Symphony Orchestra Premiere, Paired With Playful Don Quixote - April 4, 2024
- SCRUTINY | Esprit Orchestra At Koerner Hall: Ligeti 2, Richter No Score - April 1, 2024
- SCRUTINY | Sibelius & New Cello Concerto By Detlev Glanert Offers A Mixed Bag From The TSO - March 28, 2024
