Mad River Chorale conquers virtuoso mass
June 5, 2007
By Jim Lowe Times Argus Staff
MONTPELIER - Central Vermont's community choruses are taking on bigger and bigger challenges, and it is only for the good. On Sunday afternoon, the Mad River Chorale presented a joyful performance of Rossini's "Petite Messe Solenelle" - and having soloists from the Green Mountain Opera Festival certainly didn't hurt.
Giachinno Rossini (1792-1868) was one of the most popular opera composers of all time, best known for his "The Barber of Seville." While still in his 30s, he retired a very wealthy man, enjoying the life of a man of leisure in Paris. There was actually a spurt of composing in his latter years, and just six years before his death, he wrote this "Petite Messe Solonelle (Small Solemn Mass)" to mark the opening an aristocrat's chapel.
Rossini was not known for writing religious music, though he had written a Stabat Mater, and this mass certainly illustrates that. Neither small, nor particularly solemn, the mass reflects the composer's operatic style, but with a bit of religious restraint. The solos are coloratura, like his operas, but the choruses are more traditional. The accompaniment, though, was anything but traditional - two pianos and harmonium (reed organ).
Bonamico and his 30-plusmember Mad River Chorale took a big risk taking on this work with particularly difficult choruses but it paid off. Although the initial sections sounded a little rough, the two complex fugues, the Cum Sanctus spiritu and the Et vitam venturi, came off beautifully. Not only did the members of the chorus keep to their difficult lines, they sounded good to boot.
Bonanisco said that he prepared the chorus for the fugues by helping them analyze the music before learning it. The result is that the singers were comfortable while others about them were singing their separate lines. Bonamico is to be congratulated for bringing a community chorus to this level.
Much of the success of the performance is due to some excellent soloists from the Green Mountain Opera Festival, which co-sponsored the two concerts. They are in central Vermont for this year's festival, June 4-24, which includes public master classes and rehearsals, and concerts, culminating with two performances of Puccini's "Madame Butterfly"June 22 and 24 at the Barre Opera House.
Mariateresa Magisano, Rosina in the company's production of "The Barber of Seville" last summer, used her rich and agile soprano fluidly, particularly in the Crucifixus and the coloratura 0 solutaris. Mezzo-soprano Julie Nesrallah, who will be Suzuki in "Madame Butterfly," has a particularly warm rich sound which she used expressively and powerfully, singing over the chorus in the Agnus Dei. The two women blended beautifully in the Qui tollis.
Tenor Theodore Chletsos was light and expressive in the Domine Deus, while baritone Jonathan Carle, last year's Figaro, delivered the Quoniam with depth, both vocally and emotionally. The high quality of the soloists bodes well for the festival.
Also of a high professional level were the three accompanying keyboard players. Although there was only one piano, with an electronic keyboard imitating a harmonium, and another a second piano, Mary Jane Austin, Alison Ceruth and Timothy Guiles played accurately with zest and expressiveness.
Bonarnico and his forces turned out a most enjoyable performance of a virtuoso work.