Psalm never so dramatic as in orchestral premiere
There was a moment of silence. Perhaps one of the most moving moments yet
experienced at Roy Thomson Hall.
The last strains of Psalm 22 by Oskar Morawetz died away. "Why, my
God, why?" asked the voice of contralto Maureen Forrester as she sang the
Biblical text.
First silence, then thunderous applause was the response to the orchestral
version of this work, which received its world premiere last night from the
Toronto Symphony.
Forrester first commissioned it in 1979 with piano and now she unfurled it in
its full loveliness with the sonorities of the orchestra making it richer and
even more spiritual.
It was the kind of spontaneous tribute that's rare from symphony audiences,
even those at Roy Thomson Hall.
It was a unique evening: Maureen Forrester, culture goddess, at her best with
the kind of spiritual quality which she has so mastered in the Mahler
repertoire. No wonder she's regarded as the world's great Mahler interpreter.
And Morawetz, who knows this vocal quality so well, has written one of the most
beautifully moving pieces of music to the text which begins, "My God, my God,
why have you forsaken me?"
Listening to Forrester wrest each shade of meaning from the words, her cry
touches you, the effect leaves you spellbound.
And then there's the orchestral support, never obtruding on the clarity of
the words, building to that climax of "all my oppressers will have the joy of
seeing me stumble!" At that point the orchestral interlude is as powerful in it
own way as those in the final act of Berg's Wozzeck.
Then at the end there are the lovely sonorities for strings and harp as the
soloist repeats the initial mood of questioning in a work which is so carefully
and subtly colored that it is not until its climax that you realize the craft of
in its construction.
Rarely has a psalm setting been so dramatic and so moving.
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