Chorale masters unfinished Mozart Mass

By Charles Greenfield
Classical Music Writer
Coral Gables Gazette

April 6-12, 2006

In celebration of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s (1756-1791) 250th birthday the Master Chorale of South Florida with the Boca Raton Philharmonic Symphonia presents his unfinished “Mass in C Minor” K417a on April 2.

Anecdotal history tells of Mozart’s marriage in 1782 to Constanze Weber and conflict with his father Leopold contributed in part to the incomplete state of the work. Completed by musicologist Robert D. Levin in 2004 and under the baton of artistic director Dr. Jo-Michael Scheibe, the hour-long work debuted in South Florida after its inaugural performance last January at Carnegie Hall. Levin, a renowned Mozart scholar who reworked Mozart’s “Requiem” in 1991, reconstructed entire sections left blank from the composer’s notes.

The performance at Miami’s Trinity Episcopal Cathedral was chosen for its ideal sound space with its lofty nave and well-conceived proportions for choral music. Soloists included soprano Rebecca Sherburn-Bly, soprano Hannah Sharene Penn, tenor Matthew Tresler and bass Braham Fandrei.

In the somber beginning Kyrie, the only Greek section of the liturgy, the chorus supported Penn’s nicely soaring solo before they re-joined in the last section of the movement. Interestingly, the Kyrie is the only part of the mass in the original key.

In the subsequent 7-part Gloria, Scheibe delicately balanced the jubilant “Gloria in excelsis deo” against the muted “Et in terra pax” before Penn entered again with her coloratura turn and runs in the “Laudamus te”. In the “Domine,” soprano Sherburn-Bly led a lovely duet with Penn contrasted by the sweet accompaniment of strings. Mozart’s skillful use of the double-dotted French overture style with double chorus gave a solemn tone fo the “Qui tollis” remiscent of his future “funebral” passages from opera and the “Requiem.” Tenor Matthew Tresler joined sopranos in the wonderful “Quoniam” trio before the chorus closed with the “Cum Sancto Spiritu,” a fugal exercise in home to Mozart’s newly found love for the music of Handel and J.S. Bach.

While the Kyrie/Gloria passages were nearly intact, the Credo remained with only two parts: “Credo in unum Deum” and “Et incarnatus”. Perhaps it’s just as well since both sections are a microcosm of the Mozartean universe. Scheibe gave a bold and somewhat jocular push in the “Credo” as Sherburn-Bly pulled together the almost floating strands of lyrical magic against the exquisite woodwinds in the “Et incarnatus.” Her high notes were caught and held with agility and the interplay of soprano, oboe, flute and bassoon in the cadenza sustained the melting beauty of the lines. “Et in Spiritum Sanctum” with tenor Tresler was somewhat underweighted but led into a dark and lovely choral rendition of “Et unam sanctam” and lively fugal “Et vitam venturi.” Bass Graham Fandrei joined in the Benedictus creating a delightful quartet before the choir echoed with the “Osanna.” Dr. Scheibe in the final “Dona nobis pacem” produced a sound of triumph and joy.

Great credit goes to Robert Levin’s work on the “torsos” by filling in missing voices in the Credo, orchestrating “Et incarnatus est,” restoring the double choir scoring for the “Sanctus-Hasanna,” adapting from Mozart’s Davide penitente for the “Agnus Dei,” and finishing the Mass with “Dona nobis pacem” from a 1783 sketch. Kudos, as well, are given to the Master Chorale of South Florida for bringing the work to our region. Its upcoming concerts of Verdi, Beethoven and Brahms will be highly anticipated!

Based in Fort Lauderdale, the Master Chorale of South Florida has 117 volunteer singers, the great majority of whom were members of the now defunct Florida Philharmonic Chorus under the late Paul Eisenhart. Since its inception in October 2003, Scheibe has conducted Mozart’s “Requiem,” Schubert’s “Mass in E-flat major,” Ralph Vaughn Williams’ “Dona Nobis Pacem”; in December they are scheduled to perform in Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” at the new Performing Arts Center, then Beethoven’s “9th Symphony” with the Cleveland Orchestra in January, and next April Brahms’ “Requiem.”

Copyright © 2006, Coral Gables Gazette