Given the passion that Utahns feel for the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, it's rather amazing that this concert by the Salt Lake choir Gloriana was the local premiere of Lloyd Webber's "Requiem."
That is unless you've heard "Requiem." It doesn't take long to realize it's a devilish piece of Christian music, nothing an amateur group is likely to tackle.Those who showed up at the concert hoping to hear the easy, melodic lines and gentle rolling accompaniment found in "Evita" and "Phantom of the Opera" got something completely different - something more akin to Ralph Vaughan Williams than Andy Williams. Still, no one left the hall disappointed.
The "Requiem" is a very personal piece of music that shows us a Lloyd Webber obviously stretching to reach beyond his pop music reputation. On the "Hosanna" (backed by drummer Glen Webb) and the ever-popular "Pie Jesu" one still hears the tunesmith at work, but on the "Recordare," "Offertorium" and "Ingemisco" the torturous intervals and rhythms strain the soloists and tax the choir. The discipline of this group and director Deuane Kuenzi's intimate reading of the "Requiem" pulled everyone through, despite some uncertainty in a few attacks. And soloists Alyssa Thirsk, Karen Early Evans and Steven Paul Spears were robust enough to go one-on-one with the piano and chorus.
Karen Kuenzi and Jeff Manookian were sure-handed on the accompaniment.
"Behold, I Build an House" by American composer Lukas Foss and a madrigal version of "Simple Gifts" framed the evening. But the star of this show was known before going in: Jeff Manookian, local composer and Salt Lake Tribune music critic.
"Te Deum Gloriana," a choral composition by Manookian, was showcased early. It is a very feeling piece with lovely moments, a piece full of harmonies that, at times, are reminiscent of the plaintive choral selections found in modern musicals. Manookian keeps the music flowing like water throughout, never letting it come to rest. He gains wonderful fluidity, but at the same time creates a transient, unsettled feeling, a feeling that speaks of singers searching for peace rather than the deep conviction that is the hallmark of liturgical music.
It will be interesting to see if the piece has "legs."
A highlight of the evening followed when Manookian stepped to the piano and literally stunned the audience with a newly available piano arrangement of George Gershwin's "Rhadsody in Blue," the handiwork of Gershwin himself.
Listeners shot to their feel in applause as the final chord faded.
In all, a high-minded - yet very accessible program; the type of program that is fast becoming the signature of Gloriana and its director. The one drawback is this review didn't appear in Saturday morning's paper so more people could have been flagged to that evening's repeat performance.
Perhaps a third performance will yet follow.