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MOZART REQUIEM Clashes With Sunny Salieri Symphony

By Perry Tannenbaum
broadwayworld.com

Warren-Green's programming effectively flipped the Hulce-Abraham characters we remember from Hollywood's Amadeus, assigning all the frivolity to Salieri, but he didn't mess with the awesome impression of Mozart's Requiem that lingers after we have seen the film. Unlike some of the Mozart performances we've seen before from Warren-Green and his predecessor, Christof Perick, a robust assembly of musicians, guest soloists, and the Charlotte Symphony Chorus filled the Belk stage.



If the occasionally fierce reading that emerged from this formidable congress didn't totally accord with Mozart's accepting intentions, there was no doubting its power. The "Dies irae" rang out impressively, taut with terror, and the "Tuba mirum" was a fine spotlight for all four guest vocalists, particularly bass Adam Lau, smoothly accompanied by principal trombonist John Bartlett before giving way to tenor Isaiah Bell. Having already distinguished herself in the soprano section of the opening "Requiem aeternum" segment with the Chorus, Margot Rood floated in gracefully over mezzo Sofia Selowsky toward the end of the "Tuba."

Overshadowed here somewhat, Selowsky had better opportunities further along in the mass, leading off the "Recordare" and "Benedictus" sections when all the solo vocalists stood up again. Still it was Rood who shone brightest, drawing the opening moments of the concluding "Lux aeterna" and sprinkling her loveliness all over before the music grew grander and fugal with the full ensemble joining in.

The orchestra made its presence known most emphatically when the brass and timpani underscored the most dramatic choral moments. Aside from the whiplash "Dies irae," there was ringing majesty at the start of the "Rex tremendae" that contrasted affectingly with the hushed women when we reached the "salve me" pleas. Symphony Chorus showed more finesse in the "Lacrimosa," beginning softly over the orchestra's keening strings, with some satisfying crescendos preceding the satisfying "Amen."

Warren-Green and chorus director Kenney Potter may have been thinking more of Buckingham Palace than a church when they prepared Symphony Chorus for the climactic "Sanctus." Both the orchestra and the choir suffused the repeated holies with a pomp and fervor of "God Save the Queen" proportions. Or maybe they had Westminster Abbey in mind. Warren-Green has played that joint as well.

Read the full review.