Marin Oratorio Conductor Boyd Jarrell

MENDELSSOHN ORATORIO RECEIVES BIBLICAL PERFORMANCE IN MARIN

Polly Coote, program annotator for Marin Oratorio, has commented on how well choral singing builds community, and I agree. Marin Oratorio is an organization where the members enjoy working on music together, and appear to have a great time doing it. They must have a particularly gratifying social calendar. Their December 13 performance of Mendelssohn’s great Oratorio “Elijah” had moments of joy and sorrow ranging from the sublime to the careless.

This was my first first time in Kentfield’s Fine Arts Theater, part of College of Marin, and I found the hall had little resonance, and despite the shell behind the chorus, the acoustics left much to be desired. Additionally, the damp winter clothing of the nearly full auditorium absorbed much of the sound, a situation that seemed to affect the soloists’ performance.

I read biographies and program notes, termed “boric acid” in our profession, at the end of performances. Instead, I listen and observe. An “uh-oh” moment occurred at the initial downbeat when conductor Boyd Jarrell failed to look at the low brass prior to his direction with the result that the entrance was ragged. Was he thinking of Richard Strauss’ remark, “Never look at the brass. They will only play louder.” This initial event took its toll on the Oratorio, as baritone Jeffrey Fields (Elijah) was therefore was unable to set the correct tone for this incipit. However, though marked piano in the score, this essential text must be heard throughout the house. The passage, a d-minor arpeggio, rising to high d, is sung relatively piano, and the rising triad in all its manifestations (major, minor, seventh, inversion), termed motto, must be perceived by performers and audience alike to fully comprehend this masterpiece from 1846. That the trombones were not piano did not help the situation. Additionally, rehearsal in a near empty hall provides a different acoustic from a vocal line sung against damp winter clothing.

Marin Oratorio’s performance at low volume levels was scintillating, as in the chorale from “The fire descends.” During this performance Mr. Jarrell seldom looked at his orchestra, opting instead to beat time with gestures of similar length. Himself a singer, he often seemed unwilling to follow the vocal lines of his soloists. The most difficult conducting is accompanying a soloist and a close second is directing recitative. However, in the second half of this performance, Mr. Jarrell took charge and was no longer a human metronome. He deftly shaped lines, indicated dynamics, provided more orchestral and choral direction, and produced one of the more astounding choruses I have ever heard.

This performance’s soloists, baritone Fields, tenor Brian Staufenbiel, soprano Christa Pfeiffer, mezzo Heidi Waterman, and boy soprano Zachary Weisberg, are all gifted musicians with outstandingly beautiful vocal instruments. Ms. Waterman’s “O Rest in the Lord” was the most sensitive interpretation of this aria I have heard in myriad performances and voice lessons. She stole the show. Mr. Staufenbiel’s performance was swallowed up by the hall’s dead acoustics, a shame as it was very carefully wrought and phrased beautifully. Ms. Pfeiffer’s work was clear as a bell, her voice carrying throughout each aria and recitative. Perhaps boy soprano Zachary Weisberg was nervous on stage, as Mendelssohn did not write too many notes for him, and the audience would have loved more. However, his voice teacher might point out that one does not approach high notes by sticking ones chin up. Mr. Fields performance was uneven. He was outstanding in arias such as “Draw near, all ye people” and “Lord God of Abraham”, although “Is not His word like a fire?” and “It is enough” were not of the same quality. “It is enough” is the actual climax, the veritable acme of the Oratorio, and corresponds closely to the peak evinced by the Fibonacci series! Unfortunately, this performance left this listener feeling incomplete, with some arias fitting Mr. Fields’ baritone better than others.

Marin Oratorio is seemingly capable of great things, but I was struck by a feeling of complacency, though this performance was more than adequate. For example, the choir sang everything at a single dynamic level, the fortes were basically the same, pianos were quite similar, and thus there was a lack of dynamic range. The Baal choruses and solos should have progressed from the complacent to the frantic. A wag might say that they should have become more "baleful!” While the chorus has learned to sing soft material beautifully and with clear delineation, its loud passagework was blurred, the words difficult to understand and contrapuntal lines lost. The result of such homogenization may have been the loss of a fifth of the audience during the intermission. Mendelssohn was aware of audience fatigue and to combat it he arranged trios, quartets, double quartets, and other combinations of voices. In the terzett (trio) of angels, “Lift thine eyes,” each voice represents a class of angel (cherub, seraph), but here a trio of terzetts performed. This technique has little place in an authentic performance. Interpretation and modification (we were missing an ophicliede, an ancestor of the tuba, but there was no place to put the thing) are welcome, but actual changes in the music were not for this reviewer.

Several sopranos forced their high a’s with less than satisfactory results. In “Be not a fray [sic]” the d’s were unfortunately missing from the ends of the words, and in another instance the manner in which the chorus performed the word “not” in “He, watching over Israel” caused us to hear “slumber snot!”

A word about the members of the orchestra. Cellist David Wishnia plays the only true instrumental solo of the entire Oratorio, an obbligato against the baritone line in “It is enough.” He performed it beautifully despite the dead acoustics. Trumpeters Jason Park and Jon Pankin never overpowered their colleagues and their gorgeous understated work lent beautiful support to the choral ensemble. Timpanist Ken Burton provided dynamism underneath the orchestral line. Concertmaster Roy Oakley helped run the entire show, especially the first half, and deserves praise for his efforts getting the music out into the house.

The work of Mr. Jarrell and the Marin Oratorio is estimable, and consideration should be given to performing Elijah in its original German. Be not afraid, the scansion of the words is much better than the English.