MORMON TABERNACLE CHOIR, TEMPLE SQUARE CHORALE, ORCHESTRA AT TEMPLE SQUARE, Salt Lake Tabernacle, Saturday
The series of musical events celebrating the reopening and rededication of the Salt Lake Tabernacle is in full swing. Last weekend, three of the performing arts organizations that call Temple Square home joined forces in two works — Mozart's well-known Requiem and the premiere of Mack Wilberg's Requiem.
The Temple Square Chorale and the Orchestra at Temple Square, under Wilberg's direction, opened the concert with Mozart's famous work, which was incomplete at the time of his death in 1791. It's generally thought that Mozart's pupil Franz Sussmayr finished it.
Mozart explores a broad range of feelings in his Requiem, from the quiet reflectiveness of the opening Introit and the later Benedictus and Agnus Dei, to the wrath of the Dies irae and the powerful statements of the Rex tremendae. And throughout, it is a work of immense feeling, passion and beauty.
Unfortunately, Saturday's performance didn't fully reflect the depth and earnestness of the Requiem. The Temple Square Chorale, which serves as a training ensemble for Mormon Tabernacle Choir hopefuls, consists of talented singers, and their singing certainly was warm and vocally solid. But their articulation left something to be desired — it wasn't crisp, nor clean and precise.
And Wilberg's interpretation didn't fully capture the forcefulness of the work. The performance frequently sounded sluggish, due in large part to his choice of some rather deliberate tempos.
The four soloists, on the other hand, were first rate. Soprano Kiera Duffy, mezzo-soprano Stacey Rishoi, tenor Chad Shelton and bass Morris Robinson sang with conviction, giving a compelling and noteworthy performance.
Particularly wonderful was Robinson, who with his rich and resonant bass, stood out above the other singers. In fact, his powerful voice overwhelmed the other soloists whenever they sang together.
Wilberg's Requiem is indebted to two composers — Johannes Brahms (in its textual structure) and Ralph Vaughan Williams (in its musical language). The work had its origins as a companion piece to Vaughan Williams' "Dona nobis pacem," so it doesn't come as a surprise that it would keep alive the musical spirit of the English composer.
Wilberg created a very moving, introspective and poignant work that, like the Brahms' Requiem, offers consolation to the loved ones of the departed. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and soloists Laura Garff Lewis, mezzo-soprano, and Tyler Oliphant, baritone, joined the other two ensembles, this time under the direction of Craig Jessop, for the premiere of Wilberg's Requiem.
The combined choirs sang magnificently, and the two soloists gave eloquent voice to the three psalms — "I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes," "How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place" and "The Lord Is My Shepherd" — that Wilberg includes within some of the traditional Latin texts for the Mass of the dead.
E-mail: ereichel@desnews.com