Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart concluded his splendid 250th birthday celebration the week of June 18, even though Lamb’s Players Theatre’s excellent production of “Amadeus” continues in Coronado through July 23 (see page 14).
Now, it is time for Mainly Mozart Artistic Director/Maestro David Atherton and the players gathered from around the country to go home. Their return for Mainly Mozart Festival 2007 is eagerly anticipated.
The Mozart Year, San Diego Style, which began Jan. 21 with a Black Tie Gala, ended Saturday, June 24 with a Mozart liturgical evening played by Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra at Copley Symphony Hall, featuring the Los Angeles Master Chorale and soloists Susanna Phillips, soprano; Alison Tupay, mezzo-soprano; Mark Tevis, tenor; and David Wilson-Johnson, bass-baritone.
Maestro Atherton proved a master on the podium, especially adept at attenuating the silence following the climaxes in the two works, the Mass in C., K. 317 (“Coronation”), and the great Requiem in D Minor, K. 626.
The quartet was not well matched. The exemplary Mozarteans were Phillips with a ravishing, soaring top, and Wilson-Johnson, with his outstanding instrument well employed. From where I sat in the mezzanine, Tupay was largely inaudible and Tevis was reedy and nasal. The chorale is not as good as San Diego Master Chorale in regard to diction, blend and tone quality. Final consonants were inaudible, and if one weren’t so well acquainted with the text, unintelligible.
THE HIGH POINTS
Due to other commitments, I was unable to attend every event.My personal favorites, however, include the free Mozart Dances program organized by choreographer Jean Isaacs and zestfully accompanied by Curateto Latinoamericano; the electrifying duo recital of violinist/violist Andres Cardenes and pianist Anton Nel; the two-piano recital of Nel and Jon Kimura Parker; and the performance of Franz Schubert’s “Winterreise” by British bass-baritone Wilson-Johnson. Since we so seldom are afforded an opportunity to hear a vocal recital, this event was balm indeed, despite the audience’s noisy turning of pages.
Indefatigable Executive Director Nancy Laturno Bojanic and all her helpers and volunteers can rest, knowing the six-month extravaganza was a success.
More than 75 organizations on both sides of the international border participated. Mozart was celebrated as never before. Audiences were pleased, if not sated.
When it comes to Mozart, there’s always more.