BRUNSWICK — If you want to hear “the greatest musical work of art of all ages and peoples” (conductor Georg Nageli, 1812), you’d better have a willing suspension of disbelief and a well-padded seat.

The work in question is J.S. Bach’s Mass in B Minor, which was performed Sunday at Bowdoin’s Studzinski Recital Hall by members of the University of Southern Maine School of Music, the Choral Art Society and a chamber orchestra directed by Robert Russell.

It is not often that one can hear a live performance of this two-hour work, which is not only exhausting, but also extremely difficult technically. (It will be presented again Saturday at Hannaford Hall in the Abromson Community Education Center at USM in Portland.)

The primary virtue of Russell’s presentation is its clarity. The chamber orchestra of professionals, and the relatively small choir, many of whom double as soloists, avoid the muddiness of blockbuster choral productions while providing ample volume when called for. The arrangement is probably what Bach himself would have preferred.

What I found most surprising about the reading was the atmosphere of the final Sanctus, which sometimes sounded more like Arvo P? than Bach. While written 10 years before the Mass, composed during the last two years of Bach’s life, it seems to mark the transition from Baroque to Classical form.

The melody of this section’s infinitely sad Agnus Dei, beautifully sung by mezzo-soprano Teresa Herold, was one of the high points of the program. 

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Lovers of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos may have to wait a while for their favorite form, but it’s there, many times over. Triumphant high trumpets abound, but virtually every instrument in the orchestra has an outstanding solo. Bach seems to have favored the flute, and Lisa Hennessey and Jean Rosenblum did some outstanding work in these passages.

Toward the end of the Mass, one’s mind wanders. In the third section, Symbolum Nicenum, the “Et in Spiritum Sanctum” had the same rhythm, and at times the same melody, as “Piano Man.”

The Mass in B Minor may not be the greatest musical work of all ages, but it is certainly a high point of the Baroque era, as set down by one of its composers of genius. Each section’s portrayal of a single deeply felt emotion, and the extreme contrasts of musical light and darkness, exemplify an art perfectly suited to the biblical text.

The performance itself was not perfect by any means, but after a somewhat uneven start, it became fresher, continually surprising and often inspiring. USM, Bowdoin and Robert Russell deserve our thanks for  a major undertaking.

 

Christopher Hyde’s Classical Beat column appears in the Maine Sunday Telegram. He can be reached at: classbeat@netscape.net

 


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