MUSIC REVIEW : A ‘Requiem’ Stripped of Its Glorious Moments

Expanding the modest four-opera season of San Diego Opera has not been a fiscally prudent option in recent years. Nevertheless, general director Ian Campbell was able to offer the Verdi “Requiem” in concert as a postscript to its 1987-88 season.

The opera’s orchestra and chorus were joined Wednesday evening by the San Diego Master Chorale for Verdi’s monumental dramatic rendering of the ancient liturgical rite.

Guest conductor Thomas Fulton must accept the responsibility for an overwrought, frequently bombastic interpretation of this august “Requiem.” He had no qualms underscoring the score’s vivid evocation of the pangs of hell, but he allowed few intimations of the sublime peace that Verdi depicted as its counterpart.

Fulton’s “Dies Irae” rocked the Civic Theatre, but the hushed prayer of the opening “Requiem Aeternam” was squarely measured, with barely a hint of mystery. It proved to be prophetic of the conductor’s concept of the “Requiem.”

Fulton made little effort to rein in his soloists, who regularly opted for volume rather than subtlety. Only mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajic chose the high road, making elegant musical sense with her beautifully shaped phrases. The dramatic mezzo, who had played the crazed Azucena only a week ago in the company’s “Il Trovatore” production, was the picture of composure in the “Requiem.”

With her opulent voice, clear and commanding at every dynamic level, Zajic had no need to push and swoop--the favored techniques of soprano Carol Neblett and tenor Dennis O’Neill. While Neblett came to grief in the exposed pianissimo highs of the “Libera Me,” even her securely soaring lines were plagued with an unfortunate wobble.

Another “Trovatore” veteran, bass-baritone Jeffrey Wells, negotiated his part with authority, displaying a virile and sometimes somber timbre, but his uninflected declamation of the text gave the impression that he took the old bromide about Latin being a dead language literally. The tenor had all of the requisite high notes for his demanding part, but he had only two dynamic levels: brilliantly loud and a hushed stage whisper for contrast.

The combined chorus earned high marks for disciplined attacks, a healthy sonority, and spirited execution of the contrapuntal sections, notably the double chorus “Sanctus.” However, it frequently seemed oblivious of the meaning of the text.

Perhaps in these latter years of the oh-so-secular 20th Century, empathy for this medieval vision is too much to expect. The full-throated men’s voices from opera chorus master Martin Wright’s group provided a welcome, sturdy foundation for Frank Almond’s Master Chorale, which traditionally has been weak in the men’s sections.

The orchestra did Fulton’s bidding willingly and occasionally with distinction, although the cellos were as flat in the prelude to the “Offertorium” as the trumpets were in introducing the “Dies Irae.”

Just before the final movement, Zajic intoned a luminous “lux perpetua” to the hushed accompaniment of the violins and principal flute Damian Bursill-Hall. This “Requiem” performance could have used a healthy dose of the mystery and subtle intensity of that glorious moment.