The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus seems to have been created by God especially to sing the Brahms "German Requiem." This fact has not gone unnoticed, and ASO has even recorded the work twice. This week, Donald Runnicles put his own distinctive stamp on things, and the results were mostly splendid.
From the outset it was apparent that this would be an opulent reading, daringly slow at times, with a bit of added string vibrato. One risk of this approach is the loss of the dramatic energy needed to propel the work forward and give it unity. But in this case things worked out rather well. The sorrow and pain of the second movement (“all flesh is grass”) seemed deeper than ever, and the joy at the return of “the ransomed of the Lord” was likewise more intense. [Instead of setting a traditional Mass, Brahms stitched together his own iconoclastic version from a variety of scriptures.]
This was a night for the chorus, and Runnicles had them whispering, soaring and thundering to great effect. Their trademark unity (they really do sing as one) was intact, and there are few works that better show this off. This Requiem needs a soprano section with little vibrato that can somehow float its sound over the hall, another ASO Chorus trademark.
The soprano soloist was Chen Reiss. She is young and strikingly attractive, with a light voice that projects well, a warm sound, a fluid legato and effortless top notes. At times, she sounds quite a bit like the immortal Arleen Augér, the soloist on ASO’s first German Requiem recording, with Robert Shaw. Reiss’ voice has a darker hue, which worked fine. Unfortunately, and unlike Augér, she sang without facial expression. The latter would matter more, I suppose, if the folks at Symphony Hall would do a better job of lighting the soloists’ faces.
Matthew Worth was the baritone soloist. Also quite young and also very attractive (this might be the hottest couple the ASO has featured), he has a light voice with more vibrato than you might prefer. On this occasion he had a tendency to sing flat. But he has the gift of injecting great drama into his singing and was thus forgiven.
There were occasional synchronization problems between the orchestra and the chorus, which seemed surprising because of Runnicles’ reputation for control and because he otherwise demonstrated such a strong hand. The final movement brought a sense of great calm, but without the required pianissimo, for some reason. And this was the sort of evening that makes you wish for a decent pipe organ. But these are quibbles. Runnicles' fresh approach was intelligent and satisfying. And it was, above all, an evening of great singing.
The Requiem was preceded by Franz Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 44, a relative rarity but a little beauty. Here the orchestra showcased its precision playing and Runnicles conducted with just the right energy for a “Sturm und Drang” work. Things seemed overloud throughout, except for the Adagio movement, the piece’s great strength, which came out gently and with grace. The work is often called the “Trauersinfonie,” because Haydn allegedly requested that this movement be played at his funeral. For those who are contemplating arrangements of this sort, it should be quite a bit less expensive than the Brahms.
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