CSO Taps Emotions of Verdi

(first published in The Cincinnati Post Jan. 13, 2001)

Cincinnati Symphony music director Jesús López-Cobos let his hands fall slowly at the end of Verdi's "Requiem" Friday at Music Hall.

It was a reverent moment in a reverent performance. Joining López-Cobos and the CSO were the May Festival Chorus, soprano soloist Alessandra Marc, mezzo-soprano Florence Quivar, tenor Marcus Haddock and bass Simon Estes.

Verdi's monumental work seldom appears on CSO subscription concerts, it being more the domain of the May Festival. The rare CSO outing honored the 100th anniversary of the composer's death.Though a setting of the Latin Mass for the Dead, Verdi's Requiem has the emotive punch of opera. There are ear-rattling moments - the "Dies Irae" with its bristling trumpets and thudding bass drum. And there are moments of ethereal beauty.López-Cobos encompassed it all in detail.

The "big" moments packed a punch. The "Lacrymosa" found both sorrow (Italianate, with prominent solo trumpet) and affirmation ("Amen"). It was no shoutfest, but, as exemplified by the chorus, a pointed reading filled with expression. Few moments could compare with the whispered entreaties in the "Requiem" or the hushed awe with which they answered Ms. Marc in "Libera me."

The soloists fulfilled their tasks with mostly admirable results. Ms. Marc let her huge voice soar over the ensemble when demanded and scaled it down likewise (to a fault in the "Libera me") Estes deployed his handsome bass to magisterial effect ("Confutatis"), while Ms. Quivar glorified everything she sang with her creamy voice and deeply musical expression.

Repeat is 8 p.m. tonight at Music Hall.