The Los Angeles Master Chorale, Kiki & David Gindler Artistic Director and conductor Grant Gershon, and director Peter Sellars have been making choral magic with the added dimension of innovative theatricality. It’s a winning combination that has visited Toronto previously to much acclaim, and will return with Music to Accompany a Departure with music by Baroque composer Heinrich Schütz.
The voices of 24 singers will be accompanied by a Baroque organ and viol da gamba in the innovative staging. We spoke to conductor Grant Gershon about the production, and working with director Peter Sellars.
Grant Gershon: The Interview
Grammy Award winning American conductor and pianist Grant Gershon is Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and was formerly Resident Conductor of the Los Angeles Opera.
A California native, he began piano lessons at age five, and earned a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Southern California. Along with his current position, he’s appeared as a guest conductor with major orchestras across the US as well as working extensively in Europe.
He was named the Music Director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale in 2001, and has since led the organization through several prominent world premieres.
Peter Sellars
“We’re lucky because Peter lives here in LA,” Grant says.
Grant’s connection with Sellars goes back to about 1988, when the two first worked together on a John Adams’ production of Nixon in China in Los Angeles. Sellars was the opera director for the show. “We’ve probably done 25 to 30 shows together over the years.”
Grant says that when he found himself back in Los Angeles, reconnecting artistically with Sellars was one of his main priorities. The choir has worked with Sellars on material by John Adams with the LA Philharmonic. Then, there was Lagrime di San Pietro.
Orlando di Lasso’s Lagrime di San Pietro is a cycle of 20 madrigals, along with a concluding motet, written in 1594 for seven voices. Di Lasso lived from 1532 or so until 1594, during the late Renaissance.
Lagrime di San Pietro is organized in three sets of seven pieces that set the poems of Italian writer Luigi Tansillo to music. They depict the stages of grief experienced by St. Peter after his infamous denial of Christ, and his haunting memory of Christ’s words to him. The piece incorporates a heavy dose of symbolism. The seven voices are meant to represent the seven sorrows of the Virgin Mary.
The Los Angeles Master Chorale version, conducted by Gershon and directed by Peter Sellars, was a hit, and toured extensively from its debut in 2016 until 2020. The production used 21 singers to give voice to the emotionally charged work. It hit Toronto stages in early 2020 at Koerner Hall, just before the pandemic shuttered concert halls.
“The reaction was so overwhelming from the audience, and of course from our singers,” he says.
The success left the creative duo eager to plot the next one.
“Here we are with Music to Accompany a Departure.”
Music to Accompany a Departure
Schütz composed his Musikalische Exequien, or Music to Accompany a Departure, Op. 7 in 1635 or 1636. It was during the 30 Years War, a time of upheaval and loss. He composed it for the funeral services of Count Henry II, Count of Reuss-Gera, who has requested the music while still living. Schütz was a friend to the Count, and was entrusted with fulfilling his wishes when it came to his funeral.
The piece is a funeral mass in three sections, quoting from Lutheran hymns, and written in six voices (SSATTB). The motet was originally written for a mixed double choir.
“I feel that this is a piece that people don’t realize how much they need it in their lives until they hear it,” Gershon says of the piece. “And that was certainly the case with me. It was Peter who suggested it.” Sellars had already done some work on he piece previously. “This was a piece that had been on Peter’s mind.”
The pandemic lockdowns added an impetus to the project.
“We were all having these experiences of not being able to be with our loved ones,” he recalls. “As people were dying, we were apart.”
Schütz’s piece resonated in just the right way.
“The piece is really about the acknowledgement that the people we lose are still with us,” Grant says. It’s a message that still speaks to our time.
Once the pandemic was over, the production could finally move forward. “We premiered this staging in November of 2022.”
It’s since been performed at the Salzburg and other festivals through 2023. The choreography and theatrical direction enhance the emotions of the work.
“The reaction of people to the piece is overwhelming. It’s such an emotional experience.” That includes the performers. “It’s a very cathartic piece for singers and the audience.”
The performance is described as a ceremony rather than a concert. “A ceremony rather than performance is a good and healthy way to look at this,” he says.
The message and staging are more abstract than literal in conception. The first section is staged as a memorial with simple rows of chairs and tables. Each of the pieces is sung as a duet or trio, and staged as someone sharing the final moments with a loved one. The singers bring their own experiences and emotions to the roles.
The composer’s original notes for the third section indicate that the singers who accompany the soloist are to perform as angels who sing unseen from the rafters. It’s already a theatrical take on a funeral service.
“All you have to do is follow Schütz’s own suggestions,” he remarks. “It’s one of the most beautiful and moving things I’ve ever experienced.”
The Toronto Show
Grant is looking forward to returning to Toronto, and he says the Chorale is as well.
“One thing I would say, is that we had one of the more beautiful experiences with Lagrime di San Pietro at Koerner Hall,” he says. “It’s just the perfect venue.”
Grant cites the hall’s acoustics and its elegant simplicity, along with a warm reception from the Toronto audience. “The singers are very, very excited to come back.”
- Find tickets and more information about the February 7 performance in Toronto’s Koerner Hall [HERE].
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.
- INTERVIEW | Composer Ari Kinarthy And Director Jeff Lee Petry Talk About Ari’s Theme, Premiering At Hot Docs - April 26, 2024
- PREVIEW | Creators & Performers Natalya Gennadi And Kristine Dandavino Talk About Grandma’s Shawl - April 26, 2024
- PREVIEW | Artistic Director Emily Cheung Dives Into Little Pear Garden Dance Company’s History & 30th Anniversary Peformance - April 26, 2024
