Bach beats Pärt, in a big way
Two established subscription powerhouses — Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal and I Musici de Montréal — joined forces with the Montreal Bach Festival on Thursday to attract a big crowd to the atmospheric if dowdy Immaculée Conception Church. Performing standards were high even if the central concept proved difficult to sustain.
That idea was a meeting of the 18th and 20th centuries, not unfeasible given the dual aptitude of so many singers for these periods. But to imply equal billing of J.S. Bach and Arvo Pärt is to overlook the rather remote positions these composers occupy on the genius scale.
It might be a little severe to say the Estonian-born Holy Minimalist (that would be Pärt) is an emperor with no clothes, but he was trooping around in boxers in some parts of the Berliner Messe, a commission of 1990 (revised in 1992) for a congress of German-speaking Catholics. There were a few fetching interludes of devotional glow, but the Gloria was too static to maintain interest. The Sanctus came across as a noncommittal andante.
That conductor Christopher Jackson reversed the order of the program, placing the Pärt before intermission, was significant: This would have been no way to end a concert. Yet it must be said that same composer’s Magnificat proved a good way to begin, with the choir stationed in the organ loft. The perfect equilibrium of sopranos and basses said something about SMAM discipline. Jackson maintained a steady pulse. Sometimes this minimalism stuff works.
All the same, Bach’s track record is considerably stronger, and to hear a lively reading of his Magnificat (from the chancel) was tantamount to opening the doors and letting in fresh air. The 18 singers created a real sense of celebration in the concluding Gloria Patri. There were five solo- ists, some of them a little out of step. Mezzo-soprano Sarah Myatt was wonderfully poised and baritone Alexander Dobson made a sturdy sound.
With an articulatory approach that was precise or fluid as required, the strings of I Musici de Montréal demonstrated what should be apparent to everyone: Groups playing modern instruments are just plain better. What a pleasure to hear clear, speaking woodwinds doing full justice to Bach’s music. I could have used a little less thickening by the organ from my pew. Espace musique recorded the concert for (unspecified) future broadcast.