Vocal and Choral

Christopher Tyler Nickel – Requiem
Catherine Redding; Northwest Sinfonia and Choir; Clyde Mitchell
Avie Records AV2659 (avie-records.com)

Vancouverite Christopher Tyler Nickel has composed over 100 scores for theatre, film and TV, as well as symphonies, concertos, chamber works and a seven-hour-long (!) oratorio, a complete setting of The Gospel According to Mark. His Requiem (2019), lasting “only” 70 minutes, here receives an emotionally stirring performance from Canadian soprano Catherine Redding and the Northwest Sinfonia and Choir conducted by Claude Mitchell.

It’s scored for a dark-sounding chamber orchestra of oboe, English horn, two French horns and strings; “I wanted to keep a solemnity to the Requiem,” writes Nickel. The choral writing largely avoids rhythmic counterpoint, embracing instead “homorhythm” – all voices in rhythmic unison, creating a sense of granite-like solidity. The music varies in character, each of the 19 sections, says Nickel, having its own “overarching emotion.” He’s drawn from stylistic sources ranging from the austerity of Gregorian chant, in the opening Introitus and Kyrie, to the urgent expressivity of late-Romanticism.

The gently supplicating lyricism of Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem predominates in nine of the sections, while the syncopated, motoric dynamism of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana energizes the Dies Irae, Confutatis and Responsorium. Brucknerian grandeur magnifies the Tuba Mirum; the Offertorium sounds like a sentimental folk-ballad.

Nevertheless, there’s an overall unity to this beauty-filled music, thanks to Nickel’s distinctive melodic gift. As a chorister, I’ve sung in Requiems by Mozart, Cherubini, Brahms, Fauré and Duruflé; I’d love to be able to add Nickel’s to this list.

Breathe
Hera Hyesang Park; Orchestra del Teatro Carlo Felice; Jochen Rieder
Deutsche Grammophon 486 4627 (deutschegrammophon.com/en/artists/hera-hyesang-park)

Can profound fear be experienced – and expressed – with quintessence of beauty? In theory, probably not. Yet every aspect of this disc does exactly this. The prescient repertoire on Breathe paves the way. The real reason, of course, is an inspired performance by rising-star lyric soprano Hera Hyesang Park. The utter luminosity of her voice, and deep digging into songs, brings special grace to words, and extraordinary lyricism to vocalise and rhapsodising about the exposition of both the literal and metaphorical beauty of fearfulness.

The act of making breath not simply a gesture of release, but an artistic device is what we – in turn – experience throughout this extraordinary disc. Park delves into the work of a group of composers from the 19th and 20th centuries, exploring their work as part of a bleak, Impressionistic backdrop for the horrors of the global pandemic and the isolation that it inflicted on humanity. In doing so she imbues songs, and their significance, with near-spiritual fervour in the context of the pandemic.

Should familiarity of repertoire be an indicator, then the Lento e Largo movements of Górecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs is the apogee of this recording. But the Evening Prayer from Humperdinck’s Hänsel and Gretel and the Flower Duet from Delibes’ Lakmé are also sensational. 

So deeply does Park embody this material that she lives the songs rather than projecting them as outside entities of breathing. Everything about this disc declares: A minor miracle.

David Bontemps – La Flambeau
Suzanne Tafflot; Catherine Daniel; Paul Williamson; Brandon Coleman; Orchestre Classique de Montréal; Alain Trudel
ATMA ACD2 2880 (atmaclassique.com/en)

La Flambeau is a chamber opera by David Bontemps. Premiered in 2023 with the Montreal Classical Orchestra and conducted by Alain Trudel, La Flambeau features Canadian mezzo-soprano Catherine Daniel, American bass-baritone Brandon Coleman, Cameroonian-born soprano Suzanne Taffot and Jamaican-Canadian tenor Paul Williamson. 

Based on the play of the same name by Haitian poet and playwright Faubert Bolivar (b.1979), the opera is sung in French with short passages in Haitian Creole. The opera begins with an overture and evolves into seven scenes scored for string orchestra and maracas. Set in Haiti, La Flambeau’s characters have no names: Monsieur who has political ambitions and is preparing a speech; Madame, his wife who speaks to deceased family members; Mademoiselle, their working-class maid abused by Monsieur; and l’Homme, a sort of judge who condemns and ultimately sentences Monsieur, turning him into a zombie in the service of his community. 

While on the surface drawing on Yoruba mythology and Haitian Vodou traditions, the composer also embeds commentary on women’s rights, deceit, prejudice and corruption. Bontemps writes unornamented melodies with Afro-Haitian elements and in the style and rhythm of spoken word. 

The recording of La Flambeau is an opportunity to hear a cast of prominent Black singers in a medium where they are historically underrepresented. The singers’ musicality and commitment to the text invites listeners on a journey inside of our humanity to show that individual struggles are of a universal nature, regardless of gender, colour or caste.

Paul Moravec – The Shining
Lyric Opera of Kansas City; Gerard Schwarz
Pentatone PTC5187036 (operatheshining.com)

In an isolated mountain hotel with a blood-soaked past, ghostly voices and visions propel a troubled man’s descent into murderous madness. “Opera’s power as an art-form,” writes Buffalo-born, Pulitzer Prize-winner Paul Moravec, “springs from its essentially primordial, irrational nature. It’s ideally suited to the adaptation of Mr. King’s irresistibly compelling story.” Opera goers agree; since its 2016 Minnesota Opera premiere, The Shining has been enthusiastically received in San Francisco, Atlanta and Kansas City, where this two-CD set was recorded in 2023. 

Mark Campbell says his libretto (included in the booklet) hews closer to Stephen King’s novel than to Stanley Kubrick’s film (not having read the book nor seen the movie, I’ll take his word for it). Moravec’s score, however, is thoroughly “cinematic” – in the best sense – effectively creating an agitated, discordant atmosphere of irrationality and impending violence.

Heading the cast of 17 soloists is baritone Edward Parks, vocally powerful and dramatically convincing as the tormented Jack Torrance. Soprano Kelly Kaduce is sympathetic as his loving but fearful wife Wendy. The hotel’s cook, Dick Hallorann (baritone Aubrey Allicock) recognizes the psychic abilities – “the shining” – of the Torrances’ son Danny (treble Tristan Hallett), becoming his supportive friend.

Enhancing the opera’s theatrical impact, Torrance’s hallucinations were seen and heard by the audience; hopefully, they were immune to the phantasms’ murder-inducing influence. Immune, thankfully, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City Chorus, Kansas City Symphony and conductor Gerard Schwarz contributed greatly to this performance’s unrelenting intensity.

Michael Hersch – Poppaea
Ah Young Hong; Steve Davislim; Silke Gang; Ensemble Phoenix Basel; Jerg Henneberger
New Focus Recordings FCR390 (newfocusrecordings.com)

Even if you were not aware of the details of the violence of Roman rule during the early Anno Domini era you will feel its effects in the pit of your stomach as you listen to the operatic recreation of the story of the Empress Poppaea.

On one level, Michael Hersch’s recreation of Poppaea Sabina (30AD-65AD), the second wife of the legendary imperial despot Nero, may be a simple tale of palace intrigue. However, there seems to be a much deeper motive in this shrill, masterful retelling of the tragedy. And it is this: The conniving woman who won the heart and hand of the emperor and bore him a child, appears to have created a powerful, matriarchal rule in the imperial household.

Brilliantly detailed booklet notes by Dr. Lauren Donovan-Ginsberg, Associate Professor of Classical Studies at Duke University and a specialist in Neronian culture and history, make for riveting reading. Stephanie Fleischmann’s prescient libretto recreates the bloody and devious plot. 

Poppaea – played with shrill and terrifying ingenuity by the soprano Ah Young Hong – tears Nero (an appropriately despotic tenor Steve Davislim) away from his first wife Octavia, superbly sung by the dark and smoky-voiced mezzo Silke Gäng. 

You will also find yourself harbouring high praise for the superb casting and performances, and especially for the sensitive and vigorous direction of Jürg Henneberger who brings this Neronian tragedy of Poppaea to vivid life once again.

Listen to 'Michael Hersch: Poppaea' Now in the Listening Room

Claudio Monteverdi – Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria
Soloists; I Gemelli; Emiliano Gonzalez Toro; Mathilde Etienne
Gemelli Factory audiobook (gemelli-factory.com/nos_releases/il-ritorno-dulisse-in-patria)

There are as many ways to perform Claudio Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria as there are performances. The earliest known score contains just the vocal parts, the text and the bass line. Even the instrumental passages indicate nothing about what instruments are to play. So vital decisions about basic elements like orchestration and harmonization must be made.

Terrific recordings have appeared in recent years – those under Gardiner, Cavina and Fuget come happily to mind (not to overlook Harnoncourt’s landmark recording from 1972). But none for me has matched René Jacobs’ 1992 recording for momentum and spirit – that is, until this production from I Gemelli, led by musical director Emiliano Gonzalez Toro and artistic director Mathilde Etienne (with both performing as singers). 

A fine-tuned sense of early Baroque style and an adventurous sense of theatre have shaped this recording. The cast here is large – it includes nine tenors! That means remarkably few doublings, so characters are easily distinguishable. And every performer, whether singer or instrumentalist, projects the kind of commitment that gives their time in the spotlight, no matter how brief or extensive, dramatic impact. 

It’s unlikely Monteverdi’s instrumental ensemble for the first performance in 1640 would have been as large, or as varied. Historically authentic instruments like the gorgeous triple harp of Marie-Domitille Murez and the delightful trio of mellifluous cornetts add colour. But they never swamp the singers, since they are featured in smaller groups. Instead, they provide vivid counterparts to the resonant phrases of Giacomo Badoaro’s libretto, a skillful adaption of the final verses of Homer’s Odyssey.

Monteverdi gives the gods the most florid passages. Emőke Breath as Minerva ravishes with her lucid elegance. Philippe Jarroussky is an eloquent Fragilitá Umana (Human Fragility), Juan Sancho an impassioned Mercurio. Jérôme Varnier’s petulant, vindictive Nettuno captivates with his rich, agile basso profundo.  

Among the mortals, Gonzalez Toro’s Ulisse is deftly theatrical as he disguises himself as an old beggar, and affectingly tender as he pleads with Penelope to recognize him. Rihaieb Chaib brings highly charged urgency and a complex range of emotional states to the role of the faithful Penelope. The exciting Canadian mezzo-soprano has not been known for Baroque opera. But that is bound to change with her powerful performance here. Right from the opening phrases of her heart-rending lament, she commands our empathy. When she does recognize Ulisse – and they finally sing together – it’s all the more expressive for the contrast in their voices. The word “yes” has never sounded more sensual than in their magnificent duet, “Yes, my life, yes, my heart, yes!” 

       I love how Alix Le Saux as Ulisse’s old nurse Ericleia colours the word “languise” (languishes). Fulvio Bettini’s virtuosic Iro delights as he moves from comedy to tragedy. Zachary Wilder creates a poignant Telemaco, while Etienne brings playful charm to Melanto. Her extensive background essays are bound with the libretto – more than 200 pages in all – with three CDs in an attractive hardbound case. It’s certainly indicative of the loving care that has gone into this superb recording.

Penitence & Lamentation (Gombert; Byrd; Tallis; Crecquillon; Ramsey; Muhly; Carver)
Byrd Ensemble; Markdavin Obenza
Scribe Records SRCD12 (byrdensemble.com/recordings)

Ten Renaissance pieces set to religious texts expressing, say the booklet notes, “guilt and grief” are movingly performed by the Seattle-based Byrd Ensemble under artistic director Markdavin Obenza. Four selections are by the a cappella group’s inspiration, William Byrd. Particularly affecting are Emendemus in Melius and Byrd’s elegy for his late friend, Thomas Tallis, Ye sacred muses. Tallis himself is represented by two pieces – Absterge Domine and In jejunio et fletu, the latter darkly solemn, sung by only one alto, two tenors and two basses.

Nicolas Gombert’s intense Lugebat David Absalon dramatically sets David’s howling lament over his rebellious son, while Robert Ramsey’s How are the mighty fallen effectively expresses David’s anguish over his beloved Jonathan. Thomas Crecquillon’s earnest Pater peccavi presents the Prodigal Son’s rueful plea to his father. Although only five to ten singers perform the forementioned works, the reverberant acoustic creates the illusion of much larger forces.

American composer Nico Muhly’s Fallings, especially commissioned for this CD, involves 12 singers. Set to verses from Isaiah describing the destruction of Solomon’s temple, the music is often tumultuous and discordant, yet not out of place among the Renaissance works. Ending the CD, 19 singers – 14 of them tenors and basses – join in the longest selection, Robert Carver’s grandiloquent, 12-minute O bone Jesu. The male-heavy sonorities add depth and richness to this cry for mercy – “O good Jesus, let not my sin destroy me.” Texts and translations are included.