October 21, 2015

  • A Modern Creation Oratorio From Atlanta

     

    Theofanidis: Creation/Creator
    Jessica Rivera, soprano.  Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano.  Thomas Cooley, tenor.  Nmon Ford, baritone.  Evan Boyer, bass.  Shannon Eubanks, Steven Cole, actors. Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus/Robert Spano
    Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Media 1006
    Total Time:  73:28
    Recording:   ****/****
    Performance: ****/****

    Christopher Theofanidis has had a long affiliation with Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony.  They have recorded a number of the composer’s works over the past decade and commissioned a number of pieces as well.  The present work, Creation/Creator, was premiered this past April and it is from these concerts that the present recording is taken.

    Creation/Creator might best be described as sort of hybrid oratorio.  The texts themselves are an eclectic blend of poetry, dialogues, religious texts, and quotes from artists throughout history.  It creates a tapestry that allows for a variety of orchestral colors to explore global musical suggestions.  The concept behind the work is to explore more fully the creative process both from the psychological and spiritual sense, to one that tries to explain what is behind the creation of art itself.  Of course, one might make connections between the “artistic” natural world and how it came into being, as much as one could think of the creation of a novel, painting, or music.

    After a rather odd, and at times humorous opening (“Elephant in the Dark”) we shift into a larger movement.  The music of “God-Tapestry” has a large-scale cinematic quality with romantic swells that move to richer harmonic ideas.  The music tends to move dramatically along blending choral and solo interjections.  (At times, it feels like the sort of large-scale film sound that is attached to epic video games these days.)  “Pan Gu and the Egg-Shaped Cloud” is a story essentially for narration and orchestra.  Another standout is “In the Eternal” explores a variety of choral techniques that includes some rich harmony and stacking clusters.  The use of electronic manipulation and effects for “This Dream, Strange, and Moving” is equally effective and gives way to a more orchestral movement.  Later this happens in the penultimate movement, “The Music it Makes”. Electric guitar, or amplified guitars, also are added into the orchestral fabric at times.  This makes the opening of “The Angel in the Marble” feel almost like we will head into popular song, but it shifts back to an integrated movement for soloists and orchestra.

    The unusual shifts between choral movements, narrative sections, and solo ideas are all cast in accessible musical language.  The sort of mishmash is in and of itself unique and the thirteen movements are somewhat intriguing with some perhaps more successful than others.  The sung lines are more operatic recitative with no standout aria.  This forces focus on the text itself, though may be a bit tiresome at times.  Of course, what helps is that these approaches shift from movement to movement so that it can be spread out.  The descriptive music is engaging throughout.  It remains to be seen how the individual sections connect to listeners.  This is the sort of work though that tends to translate well to disc, however it just seems to end rather abruptly after all the dramatic build up in the final movement, almost collapsing under the weight of the endeavor and petering out.

    The recording here is superbly realized.  Dialogue is set up well against the orchestra, some of this is certainly helped by Theofanidis’ orchestral style that gets out of the way.  The chorus’ diction is also excellent, only occasionally being harder to pick out in louder passages.  Texts are provided with the booklet.  Each movement’s general concept is also included in the booklet with the composer’s description.  At the very least, Creation/Creator is a work that showcases the talents of the Atlanta chorus and symphony.  Whether it manages to maintain a hold that bears repeat performances remains to be seen.  The sheer forces required, and the work’s length, tend to be more detrimental.  As a large-scale post-modern oratorio, though, it succeeds fairly well.  Creation/Creator is then a modern “event” work, in a way in a line that might find its modern American equivalent in pieces like Bernstein’s Mass.  The primary difference though is that Theofanidis’ work is more about atmosphere and dramatic storytelling, less about singable thematic development.  It is a work that should hold up well upon repeated listening as one delves into the construction of the piece.