Lacrimosa dies illa At Dunbar Heights United Church
Saturday, April 19, 2014
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Good Friday - Rosa sericea subs. omeienses f. pteracantha
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At 71 it is beyond impossible to forget and
abandon a Roman Catholic background. This is particularly so when I have been
listening to J.S. Bach’s Saint John Passion as performed by Monica Huggett’s
(violin) Portland Baroque Orchestra with my friends Tyler Duncan, bass and
Matthew White, alto, for a few days.
How can one forget one’s religious heritage
when one opts for an intimate performance of Mozart’s Requiem at Dunbar Heights
United Church?
I could have gone to listen to a mass choir version in a symphony hall. This on
a sunny day, but still a somber one was a better choice.
It was only last night as my granddaughter
Rebecca and I returned from an evening at the theatre that I explained that the
music we were listening to was Bach’s St. John Passion. I told her, “I am listening to
it because tomorrow is Good Friday.” In an ignorance of the times she asked, “But
isn’t it Easter?” I had to retort (gently), "Christ had to die on a Good Friday
to leave us with hope on Saturday and his Resurrection on Easter Sunday.”
Before going to this Friday evening performance
with my friend Graham Walker, of the Requiem by Soloists, Alexandra Hill,
soprano, Melissa Howell, alto, Clinton Stoffberg, tenor, Joel Klein, baritone,
the Centennial Choir and Chamber Orchestra of the Dunbar Heights United Church,
emphatically directed by Greg Caisley, I thought of the colours of these three
significant days.
It occurred to me that Good Friday must be
black or red or both. Saturday is the day of hope. The colours can be green (renewal) or
blue (the colour of the Virgin Mary). And of course Easter is white as it represents Christ’s resurrection, His
defeat of death into the light, white light, white vestments.
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| Easter Saturday - Geranium 'Rozanne' |
During the Good Fridays of my early youth, my mother would beckon me in from playing with my friends in the street sometime around 1pm. On that day we could not listen to the radio or any kind of music. My grandmother Lolita would arrive and the three of us would kneel. Abue, as I called my grandmother would read the Seven Last Words of Christ. After all that I would return to the street unable to explain to my best friend, Mario Hertzberg why I had left our play.
I believe that my grandmother, who was a fine
coloratura soprano would have condoned to my listening to music today. She
could not have possibly denied me the Requiem and she would have enjoyed as
much as I did the fine solo soprano that is my friend and tocaya Alexandra Hill.
Walker and I lucked out as we sat on the
front row a mere four feet from Director Greg Caisley, and I could have even
played footsies (Caisley would not have approved, after all she is his wife)
with Concert Mistress Yi Zhou who could have easily wacked me with her bow had
I tried, that’s how close we were.
Back, hidden by the choir, was legendary
trumpet player (now retired but not so quietly) Martin Barenbaum. I had his records
back in the 70s in Mexico
and I once heard him play Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto, and Bach’s Brandenburg
Concerto No 2 (with an almost impossible trumpet part) at the Orpheum in the
80s.
While the small chamber orchestra was not
playing with period instruments, its presence in the church with us up front
had all the lovely trappings of Walker and I being dukes of the realm listening
to the performance in our palace salon.
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| Easter Sunday - Magnolia stellata |
One of the interesting characters in the
church as my eyes wandered away from the statuesque Alexandra Hill, is the
Reverend Richard Bott, who seems to be the great organizer, the sound recorder,
the usher to fit more people in (it was packed) but most importantly to make
pleas, gentle pleas, for our donations to keep these wonderful concerts going.
Another person of note, for Walker and me
was spotting a bearded Ken Hughes, baritone, in the choir. Hughes is a
legendary graphic designer and former instructor at Emily Carr. He taught Walker design. With
Hughes I worked on a campaign to get Bob Bose elected as Surrey Mayor.
Another standout for this vile amateur that
I am is tenor Clifton Stoffberg who I saw recently as part of a Musica Intima
collaboration with the Turning Point Ensemble and the Nu-BC Collective, Thirst
. Both Melissa Howell, alto, and Joel Klein, baritone were steady in their parts along with that firm and also steady man at the cello, Stefan Hintersteininger.
. Both Melissa Howell, alto, and Joel Klein, baritone were steady in their parts along with that firm and also steady man at the cello, Stefan Hintersteininger.
This was my first live Mozart Requiem. It
is a performance that I will treasure for as long as am able to remember.
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| Director Greg Caisley takes a bow |
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| Alexandra Hill, behind right Ken Hughes, Clinton Stoffberg |
