By Robert Croan
Contrary to legend, and to Peter Shaffer’s iconic play Amadeus (along with the movie that followed), Italian composer Antonio Salieri did not murder Mozart — nor did he attempt to steal or to take credit for the composition of Mozart’s final, uncompleted Requiem (K. 622).
The work was in fact commissioned by a wealthy nobleman, a Count Franz von Walsegg, to commemorate the death of his wife — Walsegg intended to pass it off as his own creation — Mozart, who was terminally ill, considered it to be his own Requiem as well. What remains is a magnificent musical torso, like the Venus de Milo. It was completed after Mozart’s death in 1791 — not entirely successfully — by his pupil, Franz Xaver Süssmayer.
The South Florida Symphony Orchestra, led by its music director Sebrina Maria Alfonso, presented Mozart’s Requiem at three South Florida venues this month. With the admirable South Florida Symphony Chorus (made up students from Barry University, New World School of the Arts and community members) scrupulously prepared by Giselle Elgarresta, the rendition of this unique work [seen March 12 at The Parker in Fort Lauderdale] was stirring and expressively keen.
In its completed form, the Requiem lasts a little under an hour, with its most profound moments in the central “Lacrimosa,” the part of the Mass that describes the tears of being judged for one’s guilt and asking for mercy and repose. Although Mozart only completed the first eight measures (Süssmayer filled it out from scraps of paper that Mozart left behind) the accepted performing version stands as a heartrending lament in the rhythm of the slow Baroque dance called the siciliana.
Sobs appear in the orchestra while the chorus rises three times in crescendos of supplication, and conductor Alfonso brought out the best from her forces here, with poignancy and power. In her interpretation, significantly, the rests became as important as the notes, contributing to the music’s message at any given point.
The chorus was the star of the show, following the conductor with careful attention to details of dynamics and color, and to her well-timed rubati (stretches of the tempo or a minute quickening to pay it back). At the start, some of the soft choral singing was lost in an imbalance with the instruments, but this was shortly corrected. The conductor brought out clearly the fugal lines of the “Kyrie,” then summoned high energy for the stabbing pronouncements of the “Rex tremendae,” and hymnic choral unity in the “Hostias.”
For the most part, the vocal soloists have less to do than the chorus in this Requiem, but the bass solo shines at the start of the “Tuba mirum,” these words winding in counterpoint with a solo trombone. Neil Nelson, one of South Florida’s best vocal artists and the best among the solo quartet, gave a world-class exhortation, his pointed, stentorian production matching the stirring virtuoso collaboration of principal trombonist Alexander Walder. Trombones in Mozart’s time were associated with other-worldly matters (they accompany the ghost of the Commandant in Don Giovanni, for example) and all the SFSO brass playing was of particularly high quality.
The bass solo in “Tuba mirum” was followed by a bright contrasting responding phrase from tenor Norman Shankle. The female soloists have less prominent lines, but Katherine Henley’s glimmering soprano tones were an asset throughout the work, while Maggie Reneé’s light mezzo-soprano satisfactorily filled her contribution.
The first half of the evening was devoted to another of Mozart’s most serious compositions, his Symphony No. 40 in G minor. In a thoroughly engaging performance, Alfonso highlighted the mellifluous melodies that alternate with the music’s storm-and-stress aspects. The slow movement was markedly affecting in context, with the final two movements persuasively melding this symphony’s essential mix of optimism and gravitas.