MUSIC REVIEW : Lenten Season Is Highlighted by Choral Concert at Church

Even if churches have relinquished their historic role as patron of the arts, the archaic liturgical calendar still provides occasions to present concerts of choral music that were once integral to worship. Sunday night, a week before Easter, the San Diego Master Chorale presented a pleasantly eclectic program of music for Lent and Easter at the downtown First Presbyterian Church.

Chorale music director Frank Almond organized his program around the reflective Faure Requiem and Mozart’s jubilant “Coronation Mass,” K 317. The well-trained, robust 120-voice chorus proved more adept at touting the confident cadences of Mozart than probing Faure’s fervent devotional lyricism. Although the Mass sparkled with dramatic conviction and rhythmic vivacity, at times the sheer brio Almond encouraged from the full chorus verged on a raucous clamor more suited to the operatic stage. Nevertheless, the Mass performance was both appealing and stylish.

Notable for warmth of tone and ensemble balance was the solo group, soprano Anna Carson, alto Fran Bjorneby, tenor Jose Medina, and bass Cleve Genzlinger. Their shapely, sympathetic phrasing made the Benedictus a high point of the Mass, along with Carson’s fluent, radiant solo that opened the Agnus Dei.

Robert Plimpton, resident organist at the Presbyterian Church, provided a brilliantly idiomatic accompaniment, adapting Mozart’s colorful orchestral score to the church’s mighty Casavant organ. His dexterity and clever organ registrations were models of tasteful keyboard accompanying.

Almond’s Faure Requiem was thoughtfully crafted, but it did not convey a sense of mystery or urgency. Without conveying the earnest supplication that lies just beneath the surface of the composer’s suave, late Romantic idiom, the work remained austere, even bland. If Almond’s phrasing had been more flexible, more generous, perhaps it would not have sounded so emotionally uninvolved.

Although Genzlinger retains the fine color of his voice, he appeared weak and slightly intimidated by the demands of his two extended solos in the Faure. Carson did not soar in the “Pie Jesu,” and Plimpton was less adept in making the organ accompaniment sound like the composer’s constantly fluctuating orchestral score. Harpist Sheila Stirling and violinist Karen Dirks added some welcome obbligatos in several movements.

The rest of the program included two strongly delineated motets from Francis Poulenc’s “Four Motets for a Time of Penitence” and the Sanctus from Charles Gounod’s “Saint Cecilia Mass.” The last was added to the concert to provide a showpiece for tenor soloist Medina. Since he sang his solo with his head down--his eyes glued to his score--not even his innate opulent tone could compensate for his insecurity, which undermined the whole purpose of inserting this chestnut into the program.