Brahms: Symphony No. 3; Mozart: Requiem, K. 626, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, conductor, Siobhan Stagg, soprano; Karen Cargill, mezzo-soprano; Frédéric Antoun, tenor; Dashon Burton, bass-baritone; Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Jean-Sébastien Vallée, TMC Artistic Director. Roy Thomson Hall, October 9, 10 & repeats October 12. Tickets here.
Arguably the best Canadian ensembles in their category, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir performing together should amount to a splendid concert. Making this even more exciting is the programming of Mozart’s Requiem, under the baton of Jukka-Pekka Saraste, TSO’s charismatic music director from 1994-2001.
Alas, this was not a winning combination for last night’s much-anticipated performance.
The concert opened with Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 3 in F major, touted by some as the composer’s best symphony. The piece is known for its roller-coaster emotions of passion, melancholy, restlessness and serenity. Saraste admirably conducted the entire piece from memory. Usually known for his flair for romantic lyricism, his interpretation of this Brahms was surprisingly conventional.
The orchestra had a sleepy start to the first movement and did not always sound in unison. Thankfully, there was more emotional depth to the second movement. The dance-like third movement, probably the most familiar to audiences, felt sluggish and lacked dynamic contrasts. The orchestra showed more committed playing and palpable energy in the fourth. Nonetheless, the overall performance suffered from Saraste’s decidedly mellow approach, who seemed to hold the orchestra back from unleashing the full force and range of emotions this piece commands.
Onto the centrepiece of the evening — Mozart’s Requiem, one of the greatest choral masterpieces ever written. The mysterious circumstances surrounding Mozart’s last work have given it an enduring aura of intrigue. It is a well-known story that Mozart was commissioned to write the Requiem by an anonymous patron, and by his death in 1791, he had only completed a fraction of the work, which his pupil Süssmayr finished from the sketches and instructions left by the composer.
Here, a smaller-sized TSO was playing a supportive role to the glorious Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. TMChoir, Canada’s oldest, has just released an album to commemorate its 130th anniversary. Although Roy Thomson Hall is not acoustically best-suited to this work, which requires a more sonorous sound, the choir sounds resplendent as always.
The best moments were in the Confutatis, a juxtaposition of two distinct voices: the damned being consumed by the flames of hell and those supplicating for salvation. This was followed by the exquisite Lacrimosa, in which the chorus gave a voice to grief and weeping. The ending of Agnus Dei faded beautifully into serene transcendence. Whereas there was strength in voices, vocal fire was lacking in some pieces where it was required. Dies irae, one of the most well-known movements popularized by Hollywood films, needed more clean, explosive staccatos to convey the wrath of Judgment Day. Similarly, Rex Tremendae lacked incisive bite.
The soloists were well cast, even though, again, volume was sometimes a challenge in the vastness of Roy Thomson. Soprano Siobhan Stagg sounded angelic against mezzo Karen Cargill’s impossibly rich timbre. Frédéric Antoun’s lyrical tenor was balanced by Dashon Burton’s warm bass-baritone, which had just the right amount of gravitas. The Recordare, sung by the quartet of soloists, was a moving petition to God for forgiveness and redemption.
Again, Saraste took a middle-of-the-road approach to this complex work, leaving more emotional depth to be desired. Last night’s performance left me feeling Saraste and the TSO are capable of much more.
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