Tulsa Symphony strikes spiritual note with 'Fame & Fate' concert | Review (2024)

These days it takes a requiem to fill a concert hall.

Tulsa Symphony Orchestra Executive Director Ron Predl announced at the opening of Saturday's "Fame & Fate" concert at the Tulsa PAC that it was the first time this season the orchestra had sold out the PAC's Chapman Music Hall.

One can speculate as to the reason for this— the need for a large chorus to perform the showcase work on the program, and the commiserate family and friends coming to witness the performance; the fact that said showcase work was the Requiem by Mozart, one of this composer's most famous and beloved compositions; the return of guest conductor James Bagwell, whose work with Tulsa orchestras and theatrical companies goes back a couple of decades.

Whatever the reason, those who did attend were treated to an evening of exceptional music making, with three works that in ways subtle and stentorian created a decidedly spiritual experience.

Such a reaction is to be expected from a piece such as Mozart's Requiem, which deals explicitly in such matters as life, death and resurrection, all of which were presented with a kind of passionate restraint by both the instrumental and vocal forces assembled on stage.

That sense of great emotion held just barely in check added greatly to the performance, so that more forceful moments, such as the "Dies irae" and the"Confutatis," rang out with almost fearsome energy.

The chorus was made up of the Tulsa Chorale and the Bartlesville Chorale, two ensembles led by Zachary Malavolti, who prepared the combined group expertly. And Bagwell's handling of the orchestra was sensitive and precise, as he sculpted phrases and controlled dynamics with expressive yet economical gestures.

The acoustics in the Chapman Music Hall can be fickle, and it might have been we were located in a less than optimal spot, we did have some trouble hearing the vocal soloists over the orchestra. Welcomed exceptions were the solos by soprano Amy Justman in the "Te decet hymnus" and baritone soloist Andrew Richardson in the "Tuba mirum," which also featured principal trombonist Andrew Carrillo.

The concert opened with two works for string orchestra by British composers from around the turn of the 20th century. "Serenade for Strings" by Edward Elgar is one of this composer's earliest works, a kind of pastoral reverie that received a song-like performance from the Tulsa Symphony's strings.

The other piece was "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis," by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Vaughan Williams discovered the melody that inspired this piece while compiling a collection of English hymn tunes, and his musical meditation on that melody's harmonic and dynamic possibilities is one of the more sublime creations of all time.

Melodic phrases rise and fall from the bifurcated string orchestra that were designed to evoke the call-and-response of church choral music, yet the way these passages surge into existence and then fade away, only to reappear in another form, in another place, creates an almost mystic atmosphere— the sense that this music has existed from the beginning and will continue on into eternity, making itself heard when a soul needs to be refreshed, or a troubled spirit soothed.

That may seem a tall order for a piece of music that takes a little under 20 minutes to perform, but the Tulsa Symphony's performance fulfilled it splendidly.

The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today.