Mozart and Magic

There’s nothing quite like the music Mozart- and I’ve been having the tremendous pleasure of spending quite a lot of time with two of his finest masterpieces: The Marriage of Figaro in opera workshop and his Coronation Mass with the Carthage Choir. And in doing so, I have been powerfully reminded of his greatness as well as the capacity of his music to overwhelm and inspire us.

I’ve been thinking about that a lot because it is possible and even easy to take his music for granted, especially if you feel more immediate and visceral connection with the impassioned music of the romantic period that came later. Once you’ve ad the chance to sink your teeth into Puccini and the like, the music of Mozart can seem almost quaint by comparison – a step back into the days of powdered wigs and horse-drawn carriages, when music was much more predictable …. and even pedestrian. But then you start sinking your teeth into one of his scores and you can’t help but concede its brilliance.

It’s been especially fun to see the Carthage Choir succumb to the charms of his Coronation Mass, even though they have had to master this score in an almost ridiculously short amount of time in order to be ready to perform it with the Kenosha Symphony Orchestra for their spring concert. What maybe felt in the early going like a mad dash eventually became an exciting and invigorating adventure. I’m sure there must be a few singers in the group who might be singing this music more dutifully than delightfully, but there’s no doubt in my mind that the vast majority of the students absolutely love this score and appreciate the privilege of being able to sing it. I can just tell when I look out over the choir as I’m playing the accompaniment; I see this look of intense concentration and engagement on their faces that just can’t be faked. And most importantly, I can hear it in how they’re singing it. And that was certainly true Friday afternoon when they met for the first time with Maestro Robert Hasty, the music director of the Kenosha Symphony and the conductor of tonight’s performance. There is always something quite exciting- and also unnerving – when the baton is handed off from the person with whom you’ve been working … in this case Dr. Garcia-Novelli … and you’re suddenly singing it for someone else. Dr. Hasty (who’s on the faculty at Northwestern University) is not a complete stranger to the upperclassmen in the group because he conducted the memorable performance of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony last year that helped commemorate the KSO’s 75th anniversary. So a lot of the students already knew what a fine musician he is- and in turn, Maestro Hasty was already well acquainted with what our students can do and with how meticulous Dr. GN is in preparing them. Still, there is always at least a moment or two of trepidation …. but it was neat how quickly that dissolved into what became a celebration of one of Mozart’s finest scores and the pleasure of getting to sing it. And it was also a reminder of how fun it is – and instructive – for a choir to work with a new conductor with his or her own perspective and approach. It’s a refreshing and exciting experience.

But the fun quadrupled last night when the Carthage Choir joined forces with the Tremper High School Chorale for the first time in their one and only rehearsal with the orchestra. I hadn’t planned on stopping by but it just happened to work out – and I am SO glad I did. The sound of that combined choir was nothing less than spectacular – and to hear them in combination with the orchestra was truly thrilling. And it was especially gratifying to watch the soloists in action. How exciting for them to be able to have this kind of experience at their age- singing solos in a major work with a semi-professional orchestra. That’s something I never got to experience until after graduate school- so to see two of my sophomores doing this was delightful, and to see them (and the other soloists) sounding so good and looking so confident filled me with tremendous pride.

And by the way, if the Carthage Choir had to learn this work in a mad dash, that’s even more true for the Tremper Chorale- but Polly could not be prouder for the way in which they have attacked this challenge and triumphed. (She has had great reason to be proud of them over the years, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard her speak in quite such glowing terms as when she described how diligently and passionately they have undertaken this intimidating challenge.) And I took a particular pleasure last night in seeing Tremper and Carthage students up on the same risers – in some cases high school and college voice students of mine literally standing shoulder to shoulder, engaging with this magnificent score. It was a reminder that great music is in some ways an amazing equalizer, in which all kinds of different people can come together and give the best they have to give.