Was it the Napa Valley Chorale or a chorus of angels?

By JAMES KEOLKER
Register Correspondent

You didn't have to be in a cathedral in Vienna to hear the sonic splendor of Mozart this past Sunday afternoon.

But you did have to be in the Mont LaSalle Chapel in the foothills of Napa to hear the Napa Valley Chorale with soloists and chamber orchestra in a program of vocal glory. Surely it was one of the most memorable concerts in the organization's 42-year history.

The program consisted of two settings of the Latin "Requiem" or funeral rite, an exalted one by Mozart, the other made ethereal by Gabriel Fauré.

What shadowed Mozart's composition was the premonition of his own death, and that infuses this score with its magisterial passages of judgment and absolution. The Chorale was powerful in the pleading "Kyrie" (Lord, have mercy) and emphatic in the "Dies irae" (Day of wrath) sections.

Baritone Jeffrey Fields's rich voice accompanied by the trombone of Paul de Silva in the "Tuba mirum" (Let the trumpet sound in every tomb), was chilling. The voices of tenor William Gorton, mezzo-soprano Tania Mannion, and soprano Carol Ann Kessler soon followed in radiant alternation and blending. Miss Mannion's singing was especially fine.

Choral singing is much different from solo singing, however. And the "Rex tremendae" (King of terrifying majesty) section offers a special challenge in keeping the various strands of music together, the rhythms precise, the articulation crisp. This is especially true in such a reverberant hall as LaSalle, where it takes but a short time for the sound to travel and the potential for the words to get muddied. But Chorale director Jan Lanterman was masterful in her conducting of this, as she was in the "Domine Jesu Christe" (Lord Jesus Christ), the "Hostias et preces" (Sacrifices and prayers) and the baroque "Lux perpetua" (Let perpetual light shine) where the rhythms were even more vigorous and complex.

Among the afternoon's many achievements were the deeply felt "Lacrimosa dies" (Tearful days), the "Sanctus" (Holy, holy, holy) with its glistening voices and strings, the "Benedictus" (Blessed is He) with its haunting vocal blending by the four soloists, so reminiscent of this composer's operas. The choral hush for the "Agnus Dei" (Lamb of God), and Miss Kessler's lovely soprano with strings and winds in "Lux aeterna" (May the light eternal shine) were particularly affecting.

The appreciative applause by the capacity audience was obviously not only for the music, but for this dedicated group of volunteers who are so professionally coached and conducted.

Fauré's objective was much different from Mozart's Austrian strictness, however, and the French master wanted a much more intimate sound and a much briefer rite with an emphasis upon the "rest" of the dead ("Requiem aeternam") rather than their judgment.

This stylistic change was sensitively met by conductor Mark Teeters for the second half of the program. The voices of the Chorale were now soft and pliant, the opening "Kyrie" haunting, the Offeratory with its baritone section and solo organ radiant, as was the "Libera me."

The "Sanctus" was ethereal with its harp and violin accompaniment, right down to the final string tremolo for "Hosanna in excelsis." Kessler's soprano caressed Faure's "Agnus Die" with its many gentle repeats of "requiem." And the "Lux aeterna" was so exquisitely sad, it was tear-inducing.

Fauré completes his Mass with "In paradisum" (May you be led into Paradise) with a gentle, glistening string accompaniment, including the words "Chorus Angelorum te suscipiat," (May a chorus of angels welcome you).

And for those in attendance, that was exactly what they had experienced.

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