Levine’s ‘Moses’ is stunning, honest-to-God
By T.J. Medrek
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Is there a single piece of music that’s harder to love than Schoenberg’s opera ‘‘Moses and Aaron”? Not likely. Certainly, judging from the buzz during intermission at Symphony Hall on Thursday, there’s none more controversial, even 55 years after the composer’s death.
On the one hand, there were ‘‘Moses” groupies animatedly discussing the relative merits of recordings of Schoenberg’s tough, thorny but ultimately dazzling score, being given its first Boston Symphony Orchestra performance in concert. On the other hand were those who wondered how (or if - many fled the hall during the break) they were going to survive the second act.
The feelings of the latter group are understandable. Schoenberg is famous for shattering the musical chains of the traditional do-re-mi scale - and shattering most listeners’ ways to connect with music in the process. But if there’s anyone in the world both eager and able to make a passionate case in favor of ‘‘Moses,” it’s BSO Music Director James Levine.
That he did Thursday, drawing staggeringly powerful and precise playing from the orchestra and terrific vocals from his preferred singers in the title roles: John Tomlinson (Moses) and Philip Langridge (Aaron), who so definitively sang under Levine in the Metropolitan Opera premiere production in 1999.
But head and shoulders above all was the visceral, virtuoso performance of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. Called upon to whisper, growl, shout and, yes, even sing, portraying everything from the Voice of God speaking to Moses, from a Burning Bush to orgiastic revelers worshiping a Golden Calf, the chorus excelled and reveled in each unusual opportunity.
And how wonderful it was to see and hear so many Boston-based or Boston-favorite singers filling with notable distinction the opera’s many small but crucial roles; William Hite, Janna Baty, David Kravitz and the ever-splendid Sanford Sylvan were among the singers. And a quartet of future stars from Boston University’s Opera Institute - Jessica Tarnish, Michelle Johnson, Valerie Arboit and Daveda Karanas - made a vivid impression as (please don’t tell their parents) Four Naked Virgins.
Boston Symphony Orchestra. Conducted by James Levine, at Symphony Hall, Thursday; repeats tonight.
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