Gabriela Lena Frank (b.1972)
Conquest Requiem (2017)
Antonio Estévez (1916-1988)
Cantata Criolla (1947-54)
Jessica Rivera (soprano), Andrew Garland, Juan Tomás Martínez Yépez (baritone), Aquiles Machado (tenor)
Daniel Binelli (bandoneon), Alcides Rodriguez (maracas)
Nashville Symphony Orchestra & Chorus/Giancarlo Guerrero
rec. 2022/23, Laura Turner Concert Hall, Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Nashville, USA
Naxos 8.574267 [69]
In recent years I have repeatedly praised Naxos’ commitment to the music of Latin America. This has covered numerous genres and countries revealing a diverse and rich musical culture that demands to be better and more widely known. In many instances these releases have featured artists and ensembles from Latin America proving to be every bit as impressive as the actual music itself. Here is something slightly different – not part of any wider series, this is a record of two live performances of choral works by the American-Peruvian Gabriela Lena Frank and the Venezuelan Antonio José Estévez. The performers are the fine Nashville Symphony Orchestra and Chorus under Giancarlo Guerrero along with a group of solo singers and instrumentalists. Although listed as “live” performances there is absolutely no audible audience noise and no applause. Frank’s Conquest Requiem is receiving its world premiere recording.
Sadly, this music did not really engage me. This is one of those occurrences when you can appreciate the skill of performers and creators but the actual result fails to move. Part of this is the chosen idiom, part is the simple reality of my lacking the shared cultural experience of Latin America for the images, narratives and ideas to resonate and partly there are some technical questions regarding the performances. The acoustic of the Laura Turner Concert Hall is very resonant and even with the hugely experienced Tim Handley acting as producer, I feel this blurs the definition of these often complex and detailed scores. The important chorus is placed slightly back into the acoustic with the result that much of the time I found their words literally unintelligible. Full texts are included but even though this is often in languages I do not know at all it was a case of not being able to hear phonetically what was being sung let alone comprehend it. The two soloists in the Requiem are soprano Jessica Rivera and baritone Andrew Garland. Rivera has an impressive biography but I do not warm to her style of singing as presented here. Although undoubtedly powerful and vibrant for my taste at higher pitches and louder dynamics the tone hardens and the vibrato spreads. Garland’s voice is better treated by the recording and the closing passage – In Paradisum – when the two voices join together for the only time in the work is both effective and touching. Frank uses a libretto that fuses elements of the Latin Requiem Mass alongside indigenous Nahua poetry and newly written Spanish text. The liner note references Britten’s War Requiem as another work which similarly intertwines secular and sacred – before reading this I had heard some musical similarities too notably where brass fanfares juxtapose Choral writing. The indigenous poetry tells the historical story of a Nahua woman Malinche who through her skill as a translator became an important link between the invading Spanish Conquistadores and the local people. Ultimately, she converted to Christianity and became a mistress of Cortés in the war against the Aztecs.
The role of the chorus is primarily to sing the liturgical text while the soloists assume the roles of Malinche and Cortés. The first half of the work; Introit, Judex and Dies Irae is fairly unrelenting. Frank uses a large orchestra in a post-modern manner. Personally, I prefer the second half of the work; Recordare, Rex Tremendae, Confutatis and In Paradisum as much for the greater variety in texture and style. Orchestra and Chorus are clearly well prepared and the performance is convincing and secure although I found that even after repeated listening little of the musical material remained with me. I strongly suspect that this failing is mine and that for listeners more attuned to the historical and cultural references this would make far greater impact.
Antonio Estévez’s Cantata Criolla is hailed by the liner note as “one of the greatest choral pieces of the 20th Century in Latin America” and “…has long been a wildly popular work in Venezuela”. This is a work of two halves; Part 1 is The Challenge and Part 2 The Duel. The story is of Florentino – a Venezuelan llanero (herdsman/cowboy) who engages in a literal battle of words or ‘contrapunteos’ with a mysterious stranger who turns out to be the Devil. Ultimately, by invoking the name of the Holy Virgin, Florentino prevails. Part 1 (17:09) is given mainly to the chorus who set the scene for the ensuing contest. In Part 2 (16:50) the Devil arrives and after some more choir-led descriptive writing the bulk is devoted to the contest between the tenor/Florentino sung by Aquiles Machado and the Devilish baritone of Juan Tomás Martínez Yépez. The voices of these two soloists strike me as ideal in this music with Machado’s high tenor especially idiomatic. There are listed roles too for Alcides Rodrguez on maracas and Daniel Binelli on bandoneon although I have to say I did not hear the latter’s contribution at all which seems a little odd. If the music of the first part is mainly atmospheric and scene setting there is a notable shift in The Duel with more explicitly Nationalistic writing both in terms of rhythmic energy, melodic shapes, harmony and general dynamism. More than once, there was a distinct echo of Carl Orff-like choral declamation too as well as a curious distortion of the famous Dies Irae chant. Overall, the orchestration of this work is interesting and evocative – the very closing bars are rather overly radiant in a Rozsa-biblical-epic manner but elsewhere the writing is effective. Again, I am not certain the engineering or the hall acoustic serves the work to completely best effect – something a fraction cleaner and less resonant would allow detail to register. Soloists are well balanced except for the missing-in-action bandoneon.
This is one of those discs which simply failed to engage me, although I can certainly understand why it would others.
Nick Barnard
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