I caught the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir’s second performance of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem at Koerner Hall on Tuesday evening. It’s a piece that’s deservedly famous but I think that this was my first time seeing it live.  It’s an interesting piece.  It’s not a conventional requiem but nor would I call it “operatic”.  It’s far more dramatic than any other mass setting I can think of (even Britten’s War Requiem) but in its own way.  Part of it is structural.  Verdi keeps bringing back the “Dies Irae” text and music; even right down to. the final “Libera Me”.  As his setting for the “Dies Irae” is extremely dramatic (I want to say gonzo but that doesn’t seem very ecclesiastical!) it injects a degree of drama where the core text doesn’t really call for it.  FWIW the setting is very loud with choir and orchestra going full out and the timpani being almost scary.  It’s particularly so first up where it segues straight into the “Tuba Mirum” with trumpets up on either side of the choir loft.

So, there’s lots for a conductor and musicians to get their teeth into.  This performance definitely had interesting elements.  First off Jean-Sébastien Vallée’s approach was unhurried.  The piece took over 90 minutes; perhaps closer to 95, though that did include gaps between sections.  Every recording I checked was faster with Thielemann coming in at a brisk 81 minutes.  I think the approach did lessen the drama a bit though the only place it bothered me at all was the opening which did drag a bit.

The quartet of soloists was nicely balanced.  Baritone Geoff Sirett was solid and musical from his first contribution in the “Tuba Mirum” through a very controlled “Confutatis”.  Andrew Haji sounded like an Italian tenor, which I’m sure was the point, with some especially lyrical singing in the “Offertorio” and the “Ingemisco”.  Mezzo Rose Naggar-Tremblay seemed very well suited to the music with some real nice dark, smokey timbre especially in the “Liber Scriptum” and “Lux Aeterna”.  Teiya Kasahara was interesting, and maybe a bit unusual, as the soprano.  Mostly they sang with a clear, bright tone (and excellent diction) but thry darkened things up and became much more dramatic in  the “Libera Me”.  The ensemble work was excellent and the combination of Kasahara and Naggar-Tremblay was particularly pleasing especially in the “Agnus Dei”.

The TMC showed why it is considered perhaps the best of Canada’s large choirs.  It can produce a mighty sound (though never coarse or muddled) and it’s also capable of great delicacy.  The mighty sound of course was most evident in the “Dies Irae” sections but also in the “Rex Tremendae” and the “Lachrymosa”.  There was great subtlety in the “Libera Me” and an effective transition in the “Sanctus” where the sopranos sort of bounce out of a very grand section, heavy on brass, with some very agile singing.

The orchestra was made up of members of the TSO led by Bénédicte Lauzière.  The percussion; especially the timpani, and the brass were what immediately struck one because their music is so dramatic (aka loud) especially the trumpets but there was also some really detailed, quite subtle string playing which (oddly perhaps) I particularly noticed in the quieter bits of the “Dies Irae”.

All in all, a most satisfying performance.

Photo credit: Taylor Long