Like all professionals who survive and flourish amid the shifting currents of history, great artists change with the times. But as last week’s Charlotte premiere of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem powerfully demonstrated, finished artworks can possess their own ability to transform — to speak to us in new, meaningful ways unanticipated by their creators or the artists who perform them.
There were multiple transformations cycling at the same time — all of them intriguing — as the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra presented Britten’s 40-year-old masterwork. It’s a big-boned work for CSO maestro Christof Perick to coordinate. Two distinguished male vocalists, tenor Paul Agnew and baritone Klaus Hage, fronted the orchestra. In their arms were the music of Britten and the sarcastic, satiric, corrosive and sardonically clever verses of Wilfred Owen, the young English poet killed in battle one week before the Armistice ending World War I. Behind the orchestra, the Oratorio Singers of Charlotte filled out the Belk Theater stage, singing the Latin Mass with soprano Pamela Coburn. Up in the balcony, the Charlotte Children’s Choir capped the spectacle with delicate unearthly sound — their disembodied voices hanging in the air at times like the souls of slaughtered innocents.
There’s a restive tension between the sacred Mass and Owens’ profane text beginning with the tenor’s opening question, “What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?” Later, between references to the Lord’s promises to the seed of Abraham, sung by the choir onstage and the children above, the tension escalated into devastating clash.
At this pivotal juncture, Agnew and Hage delivered Owens’ retelling of the sacrifice of Isaac. The Owens narrative diverges from Genesis right after the angel calls from heaven as Abram stretches forth his knife to sacrifice his first-born. Baritone and tenor harmonize sweetly, telling the patriarch that the ram caught in a nearby thicket will be accepted in sacrifice instead of his son.
Perick and his farflung forces captured the irony and the pathos of the piece perfectly. The whole mighty coalition had their fingers on the pulse of Britten’s threnody through its entire 90 minutes.
Agnew came in with by far the most imposing discography among the CSO guest soloists, but Hager was altogether his equal.
Britten, an earnest pacifist, certainly intended to give Owens’ verse fresh relevance when War Requiem premiered at the 1962 dedication of a new cathedral in Coventry — built next to the ruins of a World War II blitzkrieg. In a spirit of reconciliation, he invited vocalists from three of the warring nations — England, Russia and Germany — to sing the solos. Then, as last week, it was a German baritone onstage informing an English tenor that he was the slain enemy.
When Perick and the CSO programmed War Requiem, 9/11 hadn’t yet magnified the relevance of its righteous outrage. Nor had the Bush vendetta against Saddam pointed up the staunch pacifism at the heart of the piece. Very likely, when the CSO engaged Agnew and Hage, they had the idea of replicating Britten’s original pairing of Peter Pears and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.
But with the recent contretemps between the American and German heads of state on the possible invasion of Iraq, Hage’s appearance added a poignant new perspective to Britten’s masterpiece — and bore eloquent witness to a bizarre historical flipflop.
Can Charlotte get enough tuna on the holidays? Not if it’s the Rep’s production of A Tuna Christmas. The comedy juggernaut opened for the holidays for the fourth time in the company’s history last Saturday night, and Booth Playhouse was filled to the rafters.
CL’s reigning Actor of the Year, Duke Ernsberger, has taken over half of the roles from Scott Treadway in this well-oiled Texas treat directed by Terry Loughlin. In his first go-round as Arliss Truvy, the Lothario of OKKK radio, and chain-smoking Dee Dee Snavely, owner of a thriving used-weapon shop, Ernsberger seems to metabolize a tad slower than his hyper predecessor. But his lisping Petey Fisk is a newfound treasure. Ernsberger has improved Fisk’s star monologue in Act 2, adding some well-timed Yuletide flavor.
Meanwhile, Tuna’s most adorable Baptist, Bertha Watkins, is as cute and susceptible to alcohol as ever. Joe Bob, the gay hypoglycemic director who has carried his artistry as far as Waco, is more high strung. And Pearl Thurston’s floppy back and creaky walk seem worse than when we last saw them two years ago. That’s great news for anybody who has followed Michael Edwards’ exploits in these roles.
Edwards continues to find new fun in every performance. Or he’ll shamelessly manufacture it. That helps to keep Rep’s Tuna as fresh as ever.
Joshua Bell has built his enviable reputation on playing the modern violin repertoire — with a few marketable crossover and contemporary recording projects tossed in the mix. So it might seem strange that Bell is going back to Bach and Haydn on his current concert tour. What’s more, he’s doing it with the lordly Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields chamber ensemble.
On the strength of their Carolinas Concert Association hookup last week, I’d say the odd coupling is progressing nicely: The breathtakingly fleet unison from Bell and the St. Martins convinced me that the terminus of their current tour will be in the recording studio.
Over at CPCC, Giselle may be the most ideal creation that Dance Central can produce. Company director Katharyn Horne can call upon Georgia Tucker, perhaps our most exquisite ballerina, to dance the title role. Tucker blithely placed complete confidence in NC Dance Theatre alum Benjamin Westafer, partnered with her as Albrecht, the previously betrothed nobleman who falls for our peasant heroine. He isn’t as fluid as Tucker and doesn’t possess a fraction of her musicality. But he’s technically sound, secure with his lifts, and can passably simulate an ardent yearning
This article appears in Nov 27 – Dec 3, 2002.
