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Tölzer Stadtpfarrkirche: Himmelstürmendes Amen

2020-09-23T07:23:05.861Z


At the “Stabat Mater” in the Tölz parish church, everyone involved is in top form - despite unusual circumstances.


At the “Stabat Mater” in the Tölz parish church, everyone involved is in top form - despite unusual circumstances.

Bad Tölz

- It should have been a major church music project in cooperation with the choir of St. Johannes in Erding.

A good 150 singers and musicians wanted to come together in the Tölz parish church in October to perform Antonin Dvorak's oratorio “Stabat Mater”.

But Corona nullified these plans.

Instead of completely foregoing the concert, a chamber music version of the work was offered on Saturday and Sunday: piano instead of orchestra, a small vocal ensemble instead of a large choir, so that the singers could keep the appropriate distance from one another.

In addition, the conductor and choir director Christoph Heuberger chose an abridged version that lasted only 45 minutes.

The Corona guidelines were also implemented in an exemplary manner in terms of audience management: every second row in the church interior remained empty.

The visitors had to register beforehand and were placed exactly according to the official requirements.

With so much care, you can really go to a church concert with a clear conscience - and enjoy the joy of the live performance that has been lacking for a long time.

The 22 singers in the vocal ensemble looked a little hesitant when they first appeared, but that impression quickly faded.

You have to keep in mind that choristers who are used to acting embedded in the sound of the singers lose acoustic contact due to the distance regulation and, unlike usual, primarily hear their own voice.

That makes the performance more difficult, quite apart from the reduced size of the ensemble, which also requires more personal responsibility, but also more courage.

Soloists and ensembles ensure atmospheric performances

But Heuberger's band was completely convincing - be it in the gently floating piano, in the powerful forte or in delicate individual parts.

The same great compliment goes to the soloist quartet.

Anna Karmasin, Barbara Hölzl, Jonas Wuermeling and Thomas Gropper developed a well-balanced ensemble sound as well as atmospheric solo performances.

The contralto performed “Quis est homo qui non fleret” with meaningful depth.

In the most beautiful contrast to this dark glow, the tenor rose above it, shining brightly, before the bass laid the velvety foundation.

The soprano finally joined in with a warm glow to outshine the vocal movement with a silvery sparkle.

Overwhelming increase in expression of the "Quando corpus morietur"

In “Virgo virginum praeclara” the choir enchanted with a gently floating, ethereal a cappella sound, before Barbara Hölzl started on the troubled alto aria “Inflammatus et accensus”.

The concluding “Quando corpus morietur” opened the alto and bass speaking and hauntingly, then the high solo voices joined in, and finally the choir to develop an overwhelming increase in expression.

An almost sky-storming “Amen” was followed by a withdrawn a cappella passage, before a final, emphatic “Amen” concluded.

Atsuko Kawada-Heuberger certainly had to play the most difficult part of the evening: on the Steinway grand piano rented especially for the occasion, she had to act as a substitute for a large orchestra and make the original piano version sparkle and shine.

Since everyone involved was in top form, this reduced version hardly left anything missing.

An unusually long silence after the final chord was followed by even longer, grateful applause from the audience.

(Sabine Näher)

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Source: merkur

All news articles on 2020-09-23

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