IN REVIEW: Chanticleer brings music by an early master we should all know more about
What if I told you that there was once a composer as great as any who ever lived, as famous and beloved during his day as Bach and Beethoven were during theirs – but that you might never have heard a note of his music? On February 5th the Friends of Chamber music brought the marvelous a cappellachoir Chanticleer to present a rare treat: A whole program devoted (almost) entirely to the music of Orlando di Lasso, the 16th-century master whose nickname was used as the program’s title: “The Divine Orlando.” This is some of the most achingly gorgeous, intricately constructed and at times wantonly passionate music ever composed, and it merits the attention of anyone who appreciates the sound of the human voice. It was given its due by this durable all-male choir now in its 33rd season.
One’s first reaction upon hearing Chanticleer sing is quite often one of awe: Their warm, bright sonority is one of unspeakable refinement and beauty. And that’s exactly the reaction I had on February 5th when these 12 men opened their mouths for Nicolas Gombert’s six-voice chanson “Tous les regretz,” which opened their Friends concert at the Community of Christ Temple in Independence. With Chanticleer you can hear individual voices, but they are similar enough in character and flavor that they blend into an intricate maze – meticulous but not precious. They were aided by the Temple’s creamy clarity, though at times the sound seemed to yearn for more heft.
The Gombert was included on the program in order to present the chanson on which Lasso based his Missa “Tous les regretz” – a “parody Mass” that uses melodic and contrapuntal ideas from the Gombert and elaborates on them with ever-increasing complexity and invention. Throughout the Mass, performed subsequently, one was continually made aware of Lasso’s ingenious subtlety in text-expression: At the words “and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come” (Credo), the music becomes suddenly excited and exuberant, with rapid-fire imitations representing an anxious yearning for the afterlife.
Chanticleer’s ability to “breathe” an entire phrase – to give it a logical beginning and a satisfying end – is remarkable. If at times one longed for more sound from the top and bottom registers (the sopranos were a bit timid at the outset, and one of the basses was clearly under the weather, breaking into coughing fits through the evening), the blend was on the whole impeccable. Despite the absence of a conductor these men can end a phrase exactly together, with the final consonant precisely placed. Even more remarkable is the way they adopt the mood of each piece: The Agnus Dei grew inward, even introverted, as if the believer were almost embarrassed to be calling for mercy so imploringly.
The sound was if anything more cohesive in the Penitential Psalm “Miserere mei Deus” (Psalm 51), for which the singers stood in two semicircular rows instead of one. The singers captured the wide range of moods and spirits here, from the sorrowfully penitential (“blot out my iniquities”) to the hopeful (“For behold Thou hast loved truth”). The gentle intimacy of their vocal blend did not detract from the searing intensity of this lengthy piece, one of Lasso’s more bracing compositions. Cut from a very different fabric were the two Laudate Dominum psalms that followed (Psalms 148 and 150) – the first bordering on the downright chirpy (with its bemused depictions of dragons, storms, mountains, cattle and fowl), the second jubilant and light-hearted. The single good-natured polychoral motet offered as an encore – an Ave regina caelorum by Gabrieli – was a joyous relief to the ears after all that intensity.
To reach Paul Horsley, performing arts editor, send email to phorsley@sbcglobal.net.
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