Her glorious voice soared beyond words

Wed, Dec 4, 2002
by James Manishen
Manitoba Chamber Orchestra
Measha Brueggergosman
Westminster United Church, December 3
Attendance: 1000 (sold out)

It's a good thing soprano Measha Brueggergosman wasn't paid by the word at last night's sold-out Manitoba Chamber Orchestra concert. She had only 159 of them to sing in the listed program, the rest of her tones soaring, wordless ones in Rachmaninov's famous Vocalise, and Heitor Villa-Lobos' signature aria from his Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5.

It was the voice that people came to hear, with its richness and glorious sustaining power; a voice whose resources sound barely taxed as the tones rise exaltedly to whatever expression its owner commands. No words were necessary, although the few that were sung struck gold.

Of course, the mention of a soprano and Villa-Lobos means a cello extravaganza, for which the MCO supplied eight in MCO principal Yuri Hooker, assisted by Alex Adaman, Margaret Askeland, Nick Byrne, Paul Marleyn, Carolyn Nagelberg, Arkadiusz Tesarczyk and Tom Watrous. The Brazilian composer was an old caf cellist and wrote with due sympathy.

Hearing a conductorless group of eight cellos in a non-unison divisi setting is an arresting experience. At times a confectionery one, in its deep-piled tone. But when in complete agreement as here, it's a uniquely expressive force, and with Brueggergosman riding above it, you knew you'd hear the sounds long after the evening ended.

The evening opened with Villa-Lobos' Bachianas Brasileiras No. 1, which like No. 5 is an amalgam of the spirit of J.S. Bach with a loose letter of Brazilian folk flavour. Loose, because Villa-Lobos composed rather than collected the roots material.

The work got a nice, vital go, with a notably tender slow centrepiece. Then came the Rachmaninov. You knew a communicator was before you in Brueggergosman because you connected immediately with her energy, despite the plodding tempo and need to intervene with the music's simplicity by massaging every phrase-end in "ritardandi" to the dying breath.

The half closed with a fine setting by Yuri Hooker of six canons from J.S. Bach's A Musical Offering. Here momentum sagged a bit, not for the music but for the fact that Brueggergosman was off stage.

That was solved at press time in this leisurely paced evening, with Brueggergosman getting ready for what promised to be a thrilling end, in the traditional Go Tell It On The Mountain, again set for herself and the cello team. A voice to watch, hear and wonder over.

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Concert a homecoming
for Streatfeild and audience

Thursday, November 7th, 2002
By James Manishen
Manitoba Chamber Orchestra
Simon Streatfeild, conductor
Westminster Church, November 6
Attendance: 600

Last night's Manitoba Chamber Orchestra concert was a homecoming for Simon Streatfeild and his audience. The longtime former music director brought his familiar seasoned leadership along plus the other arsenal of offerings that made his 18 years with the MCO so successful.

Streatfeild programs were always stimulating. You usually got to hear music you probably didn't know, as was the case with pieces by Anton Webern, Richard Strauss and John Weinzweig last night.

You usually heard a 'discovery' soloist of exceptional talent, as proved flutist Lorna McGhee on this program, plus a generous sampling of that talent. And, to make sure you were not groping around uninformed, Streatfeild always liked to set things up with enlightening comments before each piece, as he again proved so adept at here.

You rarely hear the concentrated jewel-like pieces of Webern anymore. That surprises on one hand, since the music hasn't the austerity to current ears it had in the days of triadic rule. The MCO got their teeth around Webern's Five Movements for String Quartet, Opus 5, in its string orchestra setting last night.

Just getting the notes in their places is an achievement, not to speak of delivering their emotional underpinning, which gilded this fine performance even more.

Scottish-born Vancouverite Lorna McGhee is a former BBC Philharmonic principal flute. She was heard in Mozart's Flute Concerto in D plus the first of veteran Canadian composer John Weinzweig's Divertimenti.

McGhee communicates vividly through wonderfully clear tone and all encompassing facility. You can forgive moments of overemphasis in her phrasing, though such might be an area for her to attenuate some, especially in the Mozart. The Weinzweig's gracefully neoclassical face was well conveyed, its echoes of Prokofiev most engaging. Mozart's Symphony No. 17 was ahead at press time.

The concert opened with the treacherously exposed Sextet for strings from Richard Strauss' last opera Capriccio. It took a few minutes for the six brave string players to settle into the music's nostalgic clothes, but once done the velveteen textures found their way.

 

MCO's 2008/09 season is sponsored by The Great-West Life Assurance Company.
Support has been received from Media sponsors The Winnipeg Free Press, CBC Radio One 990,
CBC Radio Two 98.3, Golden West Radio & Shaw Cable. MCO's Chamber Chatter newsletter
is sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Heartstrings gala
sponsor: Mackenzie Financial Corporation.

© 2008 Manitoba Chamber Orchestra