Above: composer John Luther Adams, photo by Donald Lee
Friday March 31st, 2023 - The Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in a program that paired the New York premiere of John Luther Adams' Vespers of the Blessed Earth with Igor Stravinsky's timeless masterpiece The Rite of Spring.
When I planned my 2022-2023 season, this concert was not on my agenda. Strangely, seeing the poster for the performance outside Carnegie Hall one evening recently suddenly made the program seem urgently essential; this was in part due to the fact that Ying Fang was scheduled to sing, and partly due to my addiction to The Rite of Spring. In the event, Ying Fang withdrew, apparently due to a vocal cord problem, and was replaced by Meigui Zhang.
Then, on the eve of the concert, came further changes: Yannick Nézet-Séguin withdrew from conducting the performance, citing illness. Donald Nally (above), director of the participating vocal ensemble The Crossing, took over the conducting of the Adams work. And the beloved American maestro Marin Alsop rolled up her red-cuffed shirtsleeves and tackled the Stravinsky...to thrilling effect.
It was, in fact, one of the most extraordinary concerts of my experience. It would be difficult to imagine two more sharply-contrasted works on the same program: the timely, poetic, and deeply moving spirituality of the Adams juxtaposed with the savage beauty of the Stravinsky made for an engrossing evening, the music sung and played to perfection.
This is only the second work by Mr. Adams that I have heard: the first was Dark Waves, which the New York Philharmonic played as a sort of prelude to a concert performance of Act I of Wagner's DIE WALKURE in 2018. I loved that Adams piece, and I'll never forget that concert because a lone man seated near us stood up and booed loudly until the applause ended...and he continued to boo a few more times as the stage was reset for the Wagner. You can't please everyone, I suppose, but it became comical after a while.
There was no booing - in fact there was barely a peep out of anyone in the large audience - during tonight's resplendent performance of the Adams. From first note to last, this music cast a spell over the Hall such as I have rarely felt.
Vespers of the Blessed Earth consists of five movements. The texts sung by The Crossing often consist of nothing more than lists: of the names, colours, and ages of geologic formations on the planet we inhabit, or of the many species destroyed by mankind's reckless indifference to the natural world.
In a spoken 'prologue', Charlotte Blake Alston conveyed the composer's warning of an impending human cataclysm, something that is most likely already beyond reversing. Maestro Nally then took the podium, and commenced the opening movement while some latecomers were still being seated, which was distracting.
But soon, A Brief Descent into Deep Time, which traverses two-billion years of Earth’s natural history, referencing the rock layers of the Grand Canyon, drew us in with the sound of quiet breathing: the Earth itself is a living thing. Gentle chimes sound, and angelic voices sing a descending motif that is repeated over shifting harmonies from the soft strings. The chorus members take up rubbing stones and small handheld bells to add to the soundscape. The piano is heard, and the double basses produce deep vibrating sounds.
The hypnotic A Weeping of Doves finds the women of The Crossing sustaining isolated tones as individuals among them make the cooing calls of the exotic fruit dove (Ptilinopus pulchellus), native to the tropical rainforests of Papua New Guinea. The men begin to hum quietly.
In Night-Shining Clouds, sustained whispering high strings sing of summer evenings, when bright clouds sometimes appear on the horizon, pulsing with luminous colours. The deeper strings join, and descending phrases are again heard. In our polluted atmosphere, such clouds become increasingly common.
The text of The Sixth Extinction is a recitation in Latin of the names of 193 endangered - or now extinct - plant and animal species, ending with...Humans. Small ensembles of wind instruments appear in the Hall's side boxes, intoning descending phrases whilst, among the choir, individual voices have moments to shine; the tenor's voice was especially appealing.
Meigui Zhang (above), beautifully gowned in midnight blue, then appeared for the work's final movement, Aria of the Ghost Bird, in which the composer drew upon the call of the now-extinct Kauaʻi ʻŌʻō (Moho braccatus), as he longs for his mate...who never comes. This was transcribed from a recording of the last male of the species. Ms. Zhang's silken timbre caressed the music, her voice glowing in the vast and venerable Hall, while harpist Elizabeth Hainen wove delicate patterns, to rapturous effect. The music fades as a soft tingling fills the air.
Mr. Adams's epic work drew a reverential response from the crowd; in a way, it felt rather like applauding after a church service. For me, ever seduced by beauty, it had been an intoxicating experience, and I imagined listening to this music under the influence of cannabis. Mr. Adams was called to the stage from the audience as Mr. Nally and his superb choir were being hailed, along with the fabulous Philadelphians. Returning for another bow, the composer - in a courtly gesture - walked out with Ms. Zhang on his arm. I spent the intermission in a state of reverie.
Marin Alsop (above) took the podium for the Stravinsky to a vibrant, sustained round of applause. But this was nothing compared to the house-filling thunder that engulfed the Hall after she'd finished: for it was a spectacular performance from start to finish.
It was a monumental Rite, exceptionally well-played, packed with fascinating textures, and with a tremendous sense of energy. The work is splendidly noisy, and Ms. Alsop took it on the fast side, yet when subtlety was called for, she conjured up a magical softness. Solo voices delighted the ear, notably the bassoon at the start, of course, and a luxuriant horn solo in Part II. In the passages where massive sound is unleashed, the Old Hall seemed to tremble. Thrilling!
What a joy to watch the musicians join in the homage to Ms. Alsop at the end: tapping their bows, stamping their feet, and applauding at the end of this truly memorable concert.
GALLERY
Performance photos by Chris Lee have come my way, courtesy of Carnegie Hall:
Donald Nally conducting Vespers of the Blessed Earth
Musicians playing from the Hall's side box during the Adams
Soprano Meigui Zhang intoning the "Song of the Ghost Bird" from Vespers of the Blessed Earth
Composer John Luther Adams takes a bow
Marin Alsop conducting the Stravinsky
Marin Alsop receiving the audience's acclaim after a riveting Rite of Spring
All performance photos by Chris Lee.
~ Oberon