A NEW SONG, HALLELUJAH - Assaf Bènraf directs the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, choirs and soloists in the festive opening of the 2024 Hallelujah Festival

Irena Svetova (Courtesy IS)

 

Maestro Assaf Bènraf (Uri Elkayam)

Eliyahu Svetov (Courtesy ES)

Drawing a large audience to the Henry Crown Auditorium of the Jerusalem Theatre on November 30th, "A NEW SONG, HALLELUJAH" was the opening event of the 2024 Hallelujah Festival. Under the baton of Assaf Bènraf, a string ensemble of players of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the A-Capella Vocal Ensemble Jerusalem, the Jerusalem Oratorio Choir and Valery Oleshko (piano/organ) were joined by soloists Rinatya Nessim (soprano) and Eliyahu Svetov (piano/organ).. 

 

"Alleluia" - so many composers have set this word’s four syllables, playing with its vowel colours, its lightweight consonants and the endless possibilities of word stress, rhythm, and meaning. In "Alleluia" (1940), American composer Randall Thompson's best-known work, the composer steers away from the word's celebratory connotations. Deeply affected by events in Europe, particularly by the fall of France, Thompson takes inspiration for the piece from the Book of Job. Opening the event with this work, Bènraf led the two choirs and organ (Oleshko) through the work's journey of emotions - from reverence, introspection, uncertainty and anxiety to exuberant hope, before ending in a tranquil allusion to peace. In performance that was lush, velvety and beautifully blended, Thompson's choral meditation on a single word - "Alleluia" - followed by a simple "Amen", was moving, indeed mystical.

 

Francis Poulenc's "Gloria" FP 177, here accompanied on the piano (Oleshko), never fails to raise a few questions as a sacred work. Bènraf and his singers dealt admirably with its challenges - namely, the contrast of moods and gestures - as they effectively and articulately captured its buoyant, celebratory spirit, indeed, its eccentric nature. One could discern elements from jazz, dance, reference to earlier French composers such as Fauré, as well as elements of sardonic humour. Even the peaceful serenity of the work's radiant closing pages is disturbed by one last, loud interjection at the first "Amen". Renatya Nessim's performance of the solos was unforced, her mellifluous voice well projected, weaving melodies gracefully, negotiating the tricky, unconventional leaps of the “Domine Deus” with poise.

 

Enter ten string players of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. They played W.A.Mozart's Divertimento in D major, K.136, a fine example of the 16-year-old composer's sophisticated craftsmanship in a genre traditionally defined and designated as "light" music. Performing with suave good taste, transparency, charm and a touch of Haydnesque humour, the instrumentalists invited the audience to join them at a musical soirée in the home or gardens of one of Salzburg's leading residents, for which events Mozart composed and frequently performed. 

 

Then, to the second movement (Larghetto) of Frederic Chopin's Piano Concerto No.2 in f minor, Op.21, with Eliyahu Svetov as soloist. A nocturne in the "stile brillante" tradition, Svetov gave the stage to Chopin's virtuosic writing for the piano, its style a reminder that Chopin himself was a brilliant improviser. The soloist brought out the composer's ravishing ornamenting of the filigree-fine melodies with elegance, shape and shimmering delicacy. Composed shortly before Chopin left Poland, the movement was inspired by Konstancja Gładkowska, a young soprano with whom he claimed to be in love, but was too shy to tell. This was followed by Mozart's "Ave verum corpus" in D major K.618 for mixed choir, strings and organ. Under the baton of Maestro Bènraf, the motet's serene, unhurried, homophonic fabric (46 measures in all!) emerged in a fine blend of subtlety, luminosity, balance, precision and restraint.

 

Concluding the concert of high-quality performance was the Israeli premiere of Irena Svetova's 2014 setting of Psalm 33 "Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous", performed by the joint choirs, string players and piano. The work, modal, intense and engaging, displays the composer's insight into musical setting of the Hebrew language, its shapes and intonation, as the words flowed naturally through the weave of the score. Indeed, the singers gave articulate and transparent expression to her explicit and skilful choral writing. Notable also was some impressive writing for the piano (Svetov.)  Born in Moscow, Irena Svetova immigrated to Israel in 1991.