Mass: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players and Dancers (review)

"Bernstein's Mass—why now?," I thought as I settled into my seat at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, recalling images from childhood of beanbag chairs, macramé, and my father's sideburns. Mass was described by many at the time of its premiere as a desperate attempt at recapturing youth by a composer well into his middle years, and even that was nearly forty years ago. How would the odd mixture of concert music and 1970s rock work today? How would the logistical challenges of such a diverse group of performing forces be overcome? Most important, what relevance does the work's artistic message have for our modern world?

Listening to the Baltimore Symphony performances last fall, I found that the mixture of electric rock instruments with orchestral instruments and prerecorded music could make for a crowded sonic palette. The Baltimore Symphony and the sound crews at each venue, however, overcame this challenge; the potential for unpleasant noise in this work is great, but in actuality was minimal. Perhaps the most awkward logistical challenge was the fact that the marching band was in the aisles for some of the performance. My view of the stage was blocked by the marching band for a portion of the concert at Meyerhoff, and the loud instruments in the aisles were unpleasant for some audience members. There was no marching band in the aisles at Carnegie Hall; the parts were apparently covered by stage musicians. Overall, Carnegie seemed to be the better venue for this work—of the three halls, the acoustics best suited the mixture of timbres, and the most polished of the performances took place there.

The role of the Celebrant is especially challenging, requiring not just substantial dynamic range and variety of vocal timbre, but also familiarity with the aesthetics of several different types of music. Jubilant Sykes was an excellent choice for this role due to his experience singing a wide range of repertoire, including rock and jazz. Sykes has recorded with jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard, and has recorded music by rock musicians Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and Brian Wilson, in addition to a full range of classical repertoire from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess to Mozart's Requiem. Sykes's performances at these concerts did not disappoint; his expressive, timbral, dynamic, and aesthetic range and power left a profound impression.

Other highlights included Max Perlman's rendition of "Trope: I believe in God," in which Perlman's considerable expressive range and power were on display, and boy soprano Asher Edward Wulfman on "Secret Songs," a duet with Sykes and a bass soloist. The main problem with the performances lay in the aesthetic challenge of playing so many different types of music; the interpretations sometimes suffered from the inappropriate application of "classical" performance style to rock and jazz.

Recent performances of Mass have been supplemented by various web resources. The most important of these is on the Carnegie Hall Web site (http://www.carnegiehall.org/bernstein/mass/index.aspx). This site discusses the Bernstein Mass Project, a partnership between the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and New York City middle and high school students. Two performances resulted from this partnership: on October 19 at Zenkel Hall, which included original compositions by the students and excerpts from Mass, and October 25 at United Palace Theatre, which was a complete performance of Bernstein's Mass by the students and the Baltimore Symphony. The Carnegie Hall Web site also includes video of Alsop discussing the issues and impact of...