The Israeli Vocal Ensemble’s recent concert “Bohemian Rhapsody - from
Dvořák to Freddie Mercury” took place on February 21st 2019 at the Tel Aviv
Museum of Art. Conducted by Yuval Benozer, most of the program focused on
works of Antonin Dvořák, with the addition of some other repertoire.
Established in 1993 by its conductor and music director Yuval Benozer, the
Israeli Vocal Ensemble, comprising 17 professional singers, performs a wide
range of repertoire in prestigious halls and festivals in Israel, in its own
series, as well as with Israel's leading orchestras.
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| Photo: Aharon Shatzkin |
The concert opened with Dvořák’s Mass in D major for soloists, choir and
organ. Commissioned by wealthy architect and benefactor Josef Hlávka for the
consecration of a private chapel on his country estate, Lužany Castle in
southwest Bohemia, it was first performed there on September 11, 1887.
Dvořák himself conducted and the two female parts were sung by Hlávka’s
wife, Zdeňka (soprano), and Dvořák’s wife, Anna (alto). Intended for use in
religious services, as opposed to a concert performance, the work is more
lyrical and prayerful than dramatic, its pastoral mood perhaps reflecting
Dvořák’s love of nature. It also makes references to the folk melodies of
Dvořák’s homeland. Dvořák was a deeply devout Roman Catholic and his faith is
manifest in this score. The IVE performed it in its original version, with
Yuval Rabin-organ and soloists Maria Lyubman-soprano, Nitzan Alon-alto, Tal
Koch-tenor and Yoav Weiss-bass-baritone. The performance, employing a large
range of contrasting dynamics, highlighted Dvořák’s acute sense of melodic
line and contrapuntal writing. Not to be ignored is the composer’s writing for
organ, as was heard in Yuval Rabin’s reflective and sensitive playing of the
introduction to the Benedictus. There were some fortissimo sections in which
the choral sound emerged somewhat forced and not quite “covered”. The vocal
quartet has few opportunities in this work but the soloists acquitted
themselves splendidly as a quartet or weaving single vocal lines through the
choral texture, singing with expression and beauty of timbre. Particularly
notable was Nitzan Alon’s singing in the Credo, her voice emerging with natural
warmth and richness, the overall effect of this in responsorial exchange with
the choir emphasizing both the personal and communal nature of prayer.
From the sacred to the profane, we then heard eight of Dvořák’s Moravian
Folk Songs; six of the duets from Op. 29 and Op. 32 were arranged for four-part
mixed choir and piano by Czech composer Leoš Janáček. Dvořák’s Moravian Duets,
a cycle of 23 Moravian folk poetry settings for two voices with piano
accompaniment, were composed between 1875 and 1881. They celebrate the
composer's ethnic heritage and illuminate the daily joys and sorrows of
small-town life in Czechoslovakia in peaceful times. The duets were an enormous
and immediate success, helping to further Dvorák's international career,
popularizing him among his countrymen and providing hearty music for domestic
use. The central theme of the songs revolves around human relationships, mostly
love (and not without heartache), with the composer employing daring harmonies
with unresolved chords to denote sorrow or bitterness. Benozer and his singers
gave much delicacy, warmth and expression to the nuances of each song - vivid,
pensive and colourful, as in “Dyby byla kosa nabróšená” (The Slighted Heart),
delicate melancholy in “Velet’, vtáčku” (Fly Sweet Songster), intensity and
strong timbres in “Holub na javoře” (Forsaken), infectious dance rhythms in “V
dobrým sme se sešli” (Parting Without Sorrow) and a rich selection of moods in
the provocative “Zelenaj se, zelenaj” (Omens). Performing the Moravian songs in
their original language is no small undertaking. Adding to the IVE’s singing of
these appealing miniatures and reflecting the text of each song was pianist
Raviv Leibzirer’s wonderfully artistic and intelligent accompaniments.
Josef Löw (1834-1886) was a popular piano teacher, organist and composer.
The prolific Jewish composer, a German-Bohemian national from Prague, made his
name with character pieces for piano, organ and harmonium; he also wrote a
treatise on the playing of keyboard duets. Indeed, presenting an atypical item
in today’s public concert halls, Yuval Rabin presented two of Löw’s pieces for
harmonium, taking the audience into 19th century European domestic
middle-class music-making, making the audience’s acquaintance with music of a
melodious and naive character, its sections gently contrasted by means of
registration changes.
Apart from its title, the last item on the program, “Bohemian Rhapsody”,
one of the strangest, most inspired and least-understood songs in the history
of rock, seemed somewhat incongruous alongside the well-cushioned European
Romantic music of Dvorák or Löw. Originally performed by the British rock band
Queen, the “Bohemian Rhapsody” was written by Freddie Mercury for the band's
1975 album “A Night at the Opera”. “It's one of those songs which has such a
fantasy feel about it. I think people should just listen to it, think about it,
and then make up their own minds as to what it says to them…”, in Freddie
Mercury’s words. Benozer and the IVE singers gave a highly polished,
articulate, whimsical and imaginative performance of Philip Lawson’s clever a
cappella 6-voiced arrangement of the song, attesting to the ensemble’s
flexibility. The audience liked it, too!
Here was another concert of interesting programming and fine presentation
by Yuval Benozer and the Israeli Vocal Ensemble.
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