The world premiere of Michael Wolpe's Choral Fantasy followed by Beethoven's Symphony No.9 at the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra's 2023 Independence Day concert. Conductor: Steven Sloane

Prof. Michael Wolpe

 

It was April 25th, the eve of Israel's 2023 Independence Day and the air in the Henry Crown Auditorium of the Jerusalem Theatre was alive with joy, expectation and a touch of trepidation. The hall was packed to capacity, with concert-goers attending the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra's festive concert honouring 75 years of the State of Israel. Conducting was JSO music- and artistic director Steven Sloane. We were to hear two large and interconnected works - the world premiere of Michael Wolpe's Choral Fantasy for choir, soloists, piano and large orchestra, to be followed by Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No.9 in D minor, Op.125, "Choral". The concert featured the Chamber Choir of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance (director: Stanley Sperber) and the Tel Aviv Collegium Singers (director: Yishai Steckler), Tom Zalmanov (piano), soprano Ilse Eerens (Belgium), Israeli-born contralto Noa Frenkel, tenor Liviu Indricau (Romania) and British-born bass baritone Simon Bailey. 

 

 

On April 25th, Michael Wolpe (b. Tel Aviv, 1960) wrote: "This evening, on the seam between painful memorial days and the 75th Independence Day of our beloved and troubled country, against the background of all the events happening around us, a work of mine will be premiered by the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Jerusalem Academy of Music Choir and the Collegium Choir, pianist Tom Zalmanov and solo singers."  Wolpe's Choral Fantasy for choir, soloists, piano and large orchestra (2023) was clearly inspired by Beethoven's 9th Symphony, both in its grand setting - large orchestra, choir and four vocal soloists (here, with the addition of the piano) - and by the fact that it carries a strong social message. However, appearing 200 years later and composed in a location far removed from Central Europe, Wolpe's rich selection of texts by Jewish and Israeli poets is woven through the work's fabric together with the familiar music of Israeli songs and oriental dance rhythms, such as those inherent in the music of the Jews of  Yemen. In addition to texts sung by the choir and soloists, Prof. Wolpe himself added (and recited) his own spoken narrative to the multi-dimensional canvas. Falling into four sections bound together almost seamlessly, the Choral Fantasy includes texts of Russian-born Rachel Bluwstein (1890-1931), the Hebrew-language poet known as "Rachel", who immigrated to Palestine in 1909, of Tel Aviv-born poet Havatzelet Habshush (1950-1984), of Polish Hebrew/Yiddish modernist writer David Frischmann (1859-1922) and of the medieval Jewish Spanish Talmudic scholar Rabbi Shmuel HaNagid (993 AD-1056). Written in a highly accessible tonal/modal style, the huge choral and orchestral setting moved from foreboding moments to soulful, cantabile melodies, to infectious dance rhythms. The joint choir gave fine expression to Wolpe's masterful choral writing as the soloists' strong, resonant voices, mostly paired or singing as an ensemble, contended admirably with the massive forces on stage. Pleasingly handled by Tom Zalmanov, there was poetry in the piano sections, some solo, others weaving through the orchestral score. The third movement soars to a climax with the choir's vehement singing of David Frischmann's all-too-actual question: "Till when, till when, will man row with his brother?" In a work that is challenging, confronting and exhilarating, also abounding in melodiousness and associations of Israeli music, Wolpe's message comes across loud and clear, and with deep conviction. As to his rich choice of texts, the possibility of reading them as surtitles above the stage would have been advantageous to the audience.

 

With its close-to-impossible technical demands and the utopian humanist idealism in the choral setting of Friedrich Schiller’s "Ode to Joy" in the last movement, Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No.9 in D minor, Op.125,"Choral" has sometimes been referred to as the central work of western classical music both by those who view it as the quintessence of symphonic, technical, and compositional imagination and mastery, but also by those who claim that classical music can also embrace the world outside the concert hall, the work calling for social change, hope and even political reform. No symphony has been more widely discussed, nor has any other been a greater divider of musical opinion. For me, this was an opportunity to revisit Beethoven's 9th and, familiar as the work is to concert-goers, Maestro Sloane's direction of it had the people in the Henry Crown Hall at the edges of their seats, once again stirred and unsettled by the overwhelming drama, tension and turmoil of the first two movements, their suspense and jagged utterances, their expansive  triumphant and tender statements. The JSO's wind players added some splendid solo interludes. The symphony's heartfelt, mellow slow movement (Adagio) offered contrast and repose, with its variations on two gloriously warm-hearted themes. With the choral section of the final movement issued in by the bright, warm timbre of Simon Bailey's bass solo (always an electrifying moment when the baritone first sings) Beethoven's use of solo singers and chorus emerged as revolutionary and emotional as ever in the movement’s kaleidoscope of episodes. It was a performance of passionate conviction and excellence. This was the Beethoven work set for our time!