From Darkness to Light - the Jerusalem Oratorio Choir's annual gala concert in works of Harlap and Haydn

Photo: Luba Tenavskaya

“From Darkness to Light”, the Jerusalem Oratorio Choir’s annual gala performance, took place at the Jerusalem International YMCA on May 21st 2019. Conducting singers of the five Oratorio choirs, the Jerusalem Street Orchestra and vocal soloists Adaya Peled (soprano), Hillel Sherman (tenor) and Yair Polishook (baritone) was Dor Magen.

 

The first half of the program consisted of Aharon Harlap’s “Requiem” for soprano and baritone soloists, four-part mixed choir and orchestra. Premiered in Jerusalem in 2017, the work is the composer’s homage to family, friends and mentors who have passed on; Harlap has dedicated it to his friend and colleague Prof. Stanley Sperber. The texts chosen for the  seven movements of the work were taken from the traditional Latin Requiem but include only those sections bearing content common to both the Jewish- and Christian religions. As to its style, the music is mostly minor/modal, its broadly sweeping melodic lines, some strengthened by parallel octave doubling, enriched with lush autumnal harmonies. Choir and soloists weave the melodic thread in and out of the work’s seamless fabric; Harlap’s orchestral writing, robust, highly coloured, rich in his use of winds, was undertaken with flying colours by the Jerusalem Street Orchestra (director: Ido Shpitalnik). It is as sumptuous as his vocal writing, endorsing the work’s almost consistently dark, intense and soul-searching agenda. Under Magen’s direction, the Oratorio singers achieved a splendidly blended and coordinated choral sound, with luxuriance of timbre present at the work’s introspective and haunting junctures as well as in its most impassioned tutti. Soprano Adaya Peled gave an impressive and competent performance, her voice rich, stable and clean as she convincingly engaged in the work’s emotional content.  Appropriating his rich and varied palette of vocal colours to the profound meaning of the Requiem text, Yair Polishook’s performance was powerful and credible - at times dramatic and momentous, at others, brighter, compassionate and reassuring. Originally from Canada, composer, conductor and teacher Aharon Harlap (b.1941), in Israel since 1964, does not mix his messages. His writing is eloquent, direct and real, drawing musicians and listeners alike into its compelling and uncompromising subject matter.

 

In 1802, Joseph Haydn wrote:  ‘Often, when I was struggling with all kinds of obstacles... a secret voice whispered to me: “There are so few happy and contented people in this world; sorrow and grief follow them everywhere; perhaps your labour will become a source from which the careworn... will for a while derive peace and refreshment.”’ For Oratorio’s joint choir concert, only sections relating to the subject of light were performed from “The Creation”. Haydn’s sublime work, depicting a benign, rationally-ordered universe, with its essentially optimistic view of humanity and non-moralistic tone, was a musical masterpiece perfectly attuned to the spirit of Georgian England and Vienna of the 1790s, but, in all its radiant guilelessness, it is no less appealing to audiences of our times. From the first strains of the orchestral prelude - “Representation of Chaos” - as striking an evocation of the mysterious void of the universe as one might find in classical repertoire (followed by the unforgettable effect of chaos festively ceding to light shining through a C major chord)  the Jerusalem Street Orchestra  displayed Haydn’s bold use of orchestral colour and adventurous harmony, descriptively supporting the verbal text throughout.  In setting Baron Gottfried van Swieten’s libretto (here and there stamped with the Dutch-born diplomat’s shaky grasp of English)  sung by Oratorio in the English version (its text, to all intents and purposes, is bilingual), Haydn’s music abounds in word-painting; more potent use of consonants, especially at word endings, would have highlighted the oratorio’s  many onomatopoeic effects, as, for example, in the chorus:

“Despairing cursing rage attends their rapid fall  

A new-created world springs up at God's command.”

The three soloists, representing the archangels Gabriel (soprano-Adaya Peled), Uriel (tenor-Hillel Sherman) and Raphael (baritone-Yair Polishook), their duets and trios producing compelling moments, gave expression to Haydn’s intentionally florid, lofty style, with Sherman engaging his rich, burnished voice in the lion's share of the arias. The choir endorsed the work’s life-affirming message with timbral warmth and vivacity. Kudos to conductor Dor Magen, whose innate musicianship, attention to detail and dedication brought choir, orchestra and soloists together in an evening of satisfying performance.

 

The Jerusalem Oratorio Choir is the largest choral enterprise in Israel, consisting of 150 amateur and professional singers. It has appeared with Israel’s leading orchestras and at major Israeli festivals. In July 2017, Oratorio’s Chamber Choir took part in the 5^th European Festival of Jewish Choral Music in St. Petersburg. Starting out as a violinist and trombonist, Dor Magen studied conducting with Evgeny Tzirlin, Avner Biron and Stanley Sperber. He has sung in major vocal ensembles. His musical arrangements have been performed by orchestras and singers.

 

Established in 2013 by Ido Shpitalnik, the Jerusalem Street Orchestra is a classic chamber orchestra comprised of graduates of Jerusalem’s Music Academy. What makes it different from other orchestras is that it performs in open-air public spaces, presenting concerts that combine classical music with orchestral arrangements of popular music, with the objective of .making classical- and orchestral  music accessible to new audiences.