JOSEPH HAYDN â The Creation
Anna Leese (soprano), Frederick Jones (tenor), Joel Amosa (bass-baritone)
Orpheus Choir of Wellington
Orchestra Wellington
Brent Stewart (conductor)
with Airu Matsuda/Jemima Smith (dancers)
Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington
Saturday, 24th August, 2024
Haydnâs âThe Creationâ seems to be on the âshort listâ of anybodyâs compendium of great choral music experiences, but it was something that had, purely by accident, evaded me over the years. This of course necessitated on my part some urgently-driven and intensely-constituted preparatory experience of the work prior to my attending the Orpheus Choirâs and Orchestra Wellingtonâs eagerly-awaited Wellington performance.
My plan was to listen to several highly-regarded recordings, thinking I would get a well-rounded view of it all, though I confess to taking little notice of the circumstance that all of these performances presented the work in German even though I do remember reading about the fascinating peregrinations of the original anonymously-written English libretto that came into Haydnâs hands while in England. Â He then took it back to Austria and turned it over to Gottfried van Swieten, who translated it into German for Haydn to set to music, van Swieten also recasting the English words to âfitâ with the composerâs work. It was one of the first works up to that time published with a libretto in two languages.
Having digested all of this, and feeling by the end of my listening that my surroundings and person-prototype had been suitably, not to say systematically reconstructed by the composer with the aid of an anonymous libretto drawn from Genesis, the Book of Psalms and John Milton, I felt more than ready for some âlive actionâ, as popular advertising would have it! And I was, of course, further intrigued by the publicity accompanying the Orpheus Choirâs 2024 presentation, with its promise of âstunning special effectsâ including a cinematic LED screen adding sight to sound, and dancers from Footnote New Zealand choreographing parts of the music-making! Obviously something special was afoot!
Adding âspecial effectsâ to live music-making in general is nothing new of late, and not even in the case of the classics, where, in performances of music traditionally presenting the notes of the score alone, thereâs been a world-wide interest in augmenting such activities with just the kinds of things we were given this evening. Even certain works whose essential gravitas seemed to require a pure and unadorned approach have been given extra âcomponentryâ in that itâs more than just the âsoundâ of the music thatâs presented â Bachâs St.John Passion has , for example, been presented with dance choreography at this yearâs prestigious Salzburg Festival.
These initiatives of course come with the best of intentions, with purposes most persuasively put â to quote the words of one entrepreneur: âInterractive concert technologies have introduced exciting ways to engage audiences during live performances. From synchronised light shows and projection mapping to mobile apps that enable audience participation, these technologies create a multisensory experience, blurring the boundaries between performers and spectators and fostering a deeper connection between the music and the audience.â A frequently recurring theme in these philosophies is the perceived âconservatismâ and âexclusivityâ of classical music as a barrier that needs to be broken down â as one event director put it, ââŚ.trying to make the music less intimidating and exclusive to people who canât identify with the conservative, exclusionary image that classical music often has.â
Something that routinely divides audiences at performances with these âspecial effectsâ is the difference in attitude between age-groups. Those I talked with on Saturday night after the âCreationâ performance included younger people who in general enjoyed the screened images and the dancers, and older people who mostly found them distracting and even annoying. For myself (these days a paid-up member of the grey-haired brigade!) I found parts of the screened imagery appropriately theatrical and dramatic (the contrast between the opening âvoidâ with its convoluted and claustrophobic imagery and its sudden, dramatic, near-blinding light at the choirâs words âand there was LIGHT!!!â was stunning in its effect, for example, as was the âsunrise/moonriseâ imagery accompanying some of the beautiful concluding music of Part One). Â However as scene followed subsequent scene I found myself wondering what we were expected to be most engaged with â was it the music or the accompanying images? Â Under such circumstances I felt the most important consideration was a question of a proper synthesis between the two â and for me there seemed a significant proportion of the visual throughout the evening whose âbusynessâ was more of a distraction than the interactive motivation which the music surely deserved. The âextraâ detailing I enjoyed as much as the more focused visual depictions was the presence in Part Three of the two dancers, Airu Matsuda representing Adam and Jemima Smith depicting Eve, their movements always in what seemed like properly organic synchronisation with both the words and the music, and earning them well-deserved plaudits of their own at the end.
Turning to the music and its performance by the singers and orchestra is to encounter what I thought were the occasionâs most resplendent qualities â right from the dark-browed, brooding instrumental opening of the work followed by bass-baritone Joel Amosaâs entrance as the Archangel Raphael and his splendidly-weighted voice (making me catch my breath momentarily at the realisation that he was singing in English!), the sounds held us in a grip of wonderment and expectation! It made that moment of release of both the choirâs and orchestraâs tumultuous torrent of sound at the word âLightâ all the more elemental in its power and joyous in its liberation! Â What better a beginning, I thought, to such a cosmic event!
If tenor Frederick Jones sounded at first slightly tentative during the opening of his aria âNow vanish before the holy beamsâ, his voice âbroke throughâ with the description of Satanâs hostâs defeat and consignment to âendless nightâ, with the Orpheus voices revelling in the writingâs energy and determination with their cries of âDespairing, cursing rage attends their rapid fallâ. And his ringing tones splendidly capped off the orchestraâs depiction of the majestic sun and the beauteous moon to great effect. Even better was his performance in Part Two of the great aria âIn native worth and honour cladâ, one describing the creation of man and woman (the sequence appropriately accompanied by the famous Michelangelo Sistine Chapel depiction of God creating Adam â however clichĂŠd the image, it had for me that interactive ârightnessâ that made its proper mark).
Soprano Anna Leeseâs brightly-focused voice made the perfect contrast to Joel Amosaâs splendid recitative âAnd God made the Firmamentâ when she undertook the celebratory âThe marvellous workâ with the choir again matching the soloistâs exuberant mood, Leese returning in more lyrical fashion for a bewitching âWith verdue cladâ, to which the orchestral winds added evocative detail that heightened the âravishâd senseâ of the beholder. As befitted the extra dynamism of living creatures, the sopranoâs âOn mighty pensâ paid both sprightly and lyrical homage to the birds of the air, specifically the eagle, lark, dove and nightingale, the visuals âtreating usâ however vicariously and distractedly, to a simulated ride on the back of an eagle during this section! – though Anna Leeseâs voice did manage to refocus our attentions on the music for some of the time, and garner sufficient appreciation for a lovely performance!
Of course the duet sequences of Part Three between the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, are always a highlight of this work – and here we were charmed by the interaction between the pair, firstly by the aforementioned dancersâ sequences which I thought of a piece with the whole in terms their simply-adorned and dream-like quality of expression; and then with the re-entrance of Anna Leese as Eve and Joel Amosa as Adam dressed almost as if for a wedding, which of course their union symbolizes in an archetypal sense. Even the tenor took part in the ritualâs beginning, introducing the pair in the most mellifluous of tones âIn rosy mantle now appearsâ, a lovely piece of singing by Frederick Jones! Itâs the precursor of a series of duets and declamations heart-warming in their effect, be it the pairâs alternating praise of and delight in the newly-created world (âOf stars the fairestâ) or each oneâs heartfelt declaration of love for the other during the course of âOur duty we have now performedâ, both singers conveying a real sense of wonderment at their âcoming into beingâ in a new world and sharing their rapturous excitement.
In attendance with all of this, and in places leading the way was the wonderful Orpheus Choir â music director Brent Stewart must have been well-and-truly stoked with his voicesâ response to the composerâs every storytelling excitement, rhapsodic description and grandly resplendent moment, Â through all of which the choir never faltered. To single out any particularly memorable moment (which Iâve done already!) would be to underplay the totality of the Orpheusâs achievement in conveying Haydnâs sheer inventiveness and flexibility. Right with the choir for every demisemiquaver of the journey was Orchestra Wellington, whose recent appearances in a punishing schedule of concerts had already confirmed its reputation as a brilliant and formidable ensemble â here, enhanced even further.
While the effectiveness of much of the âreimaginedâ aspect of the presentation will remain a matter of taste and opinion, there can be no doubt as to the stellar musical qualities of the occasion thanks to all concerned, conductor, soloists, choir and orchestra! To quote wholeheartedly from the libretto itself â âAchieved is the glorious work!â