Enthusiastically Received at Trinity Cathedral Last Night; Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church for Sunday Matinee
By George B. Parous
“The Lamps may be different, but the Light is the same.”
This Love Between Us, the characteristically unique concert Resonance Works is performing this weekend, got its first hearing last evening, in the majestic Trinity Cathedral, downtown, and will be repeated tomorrow afternoon, Sunday, February 4, at 4:00 p.m. at the Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church.
The concert opened with a bravura performance of Breaking Bread, a work by Nkeiru Okoye, an American-born composer of African American and Nigerian descent. Ms. Okoye’s piece, commissioned for viola a few years ago, was arranged as a violin solo, magnificently rendered by Maureen Conlon Gutierrez. It takes its name from “Let Us Break Bread Together,” a hymn that takes its tune and text from the Gullah/Geechee slave culture of the southern coastal region of colonial America. As the program notes promised, the music does, indeed, “unfold in rhapsodic nature,” and was a gripping demonstration of Ms. Gutierrez’s virtuosity. She plays with an intensity devoid of any affectation and riveted the audience’s attention for the first seven or so minutes of the evening’s performance.
Violinist Maureen Conlon Gutierrez
What followed and completed the first part of the program was J. S. Bach’s Magnificat in D Major BWV 243, a musical setting of the biblical canticle, and the famed composer’s first attempt at such a work. The beautiful music, wonderfully intoned by the orchestra, also brought forward a fine group of solo vocalists. Katy Williams, soprano, possibly the best known to local audiences, sang a solo and duet with her usual silvery tones. Samina Aslam, also a soprano (with an impressive resume), possesses a finely tuned voice that was quite pleasing. Paul Chwe MinChul An, a singer with a rich and resonant bass voice, is a highly versatile musician who happens to be singing bass parts in Pittsburgh this weekend. Tenor Gene Stenger, originally from Pittsburgh and widely regarded as one of the best Bach singing specialists to be found, gave an excellent display of his talents. Tahanee Aluwihare, mezzo-soprano, sang in velvety, luscious tones that were very effective.
This Love Between Us: Prayers for Unity, by the Indian-American composer Reena Esmail, is a fascinating work in seven movements, both instrumental and vocal, which are musical homage to unity in these days of divisiveness. While the movements juxtapose the words of the seven major religious traditions of India (Buddhism, Sikhism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism and Islam) insomuch as to how they approach unity, Esmail also uses combinations of Indian and Western classical styles – “running the continuum from the Christian movement,” she tells us in her program notes, “which is rooted firmly in a baroque style,” to Hindustani and Zoroastrian movements. Conductor Maria Sensi Sellner says the work is “special,” and the production is clearly a labor of love. Fascinating on a first hearing, the work employs the orchestra, vocalists and chorus, as well as the sitar, played by Michael Griska, and tabla (a pair of hand drums) by Vikram Mukherjee.
Maria Sensi Sellner conducting the ensemble – (L, Samina Aslam, Paul Chwe MinChul An; R, Gene Stenger, Tahanee Aluwihare)
The backbone of any performance by Resonance Works is always the orchestra. Ms. Sellner has evinced, often, a masterful hand and oneness with the music she directs. There is a whole-souled devotion to the scores she has chosen, and she communicates with the orchestra using a refreshingly unaffected style – no distractingly mad gyrations mar a performance by this ensemble. The effectually calm atmosphere lends an added tone of easy listening for the audience that starts with the first note and continues to the end.
Something especially notable about this smaller orchestra with the big sound is its ability to allow the auditor listening options in a more intimate manner than is normally the case. Sellner balances the instrumentalists so that one may hear the full orchestral sound, or focus the ear on a particular section – or both at the same time. It’s even possible to close the eyes and listen to an individual player; a specific cello rings out as boldly or softly as a particular flute, or a trumpet as a violin. The same time and attention has been given to everyone during rehearsals, and it shows. The acoustic qualities of the cathedral may have made it especially noticeable last night, but it’s Ms. Sellner’s and her orchestra’s norm.
The mixed Festival Chorus of about thirty singers rang out loud and clear in the passages noted to them in a manner that made them, in spots, audible in all parts of the cathedral and possibly Sixth Avenue. They kept time and tune and what else can be asked of a chorus? They added much to the evening by their melodious participation.
The best way to learn more about the music is to attend tomorrow afternoon’s concert, and more information and tickets are available on the Resonance Works website. This program is one of the ensemble’s best efforts.
“See yourself in others, then who can you hurt?”
The Production Team for This Love Between Us –
Conductor & Producer, Maria Sensi Sellner; Producer, Robert Frankenberry; Production Manager, Brennan Sellner; Company Manager, Jeffrey Klefstad; Rehearsal Pianists, Karen Jeng Lin and Lucas Barkley
Photography by Alisa Innocenti
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