MUSIC REVIEW : Shaw Leads a Notable ‘Solemnis’

Attending a performance of Beethoven’s “Missa Solemnis”raises the loftiest expectations. And when Robert Shaw, who has few peers interpreting the choral and orchestral repertory, ascends the podium to conduct the piece, expectations rise yet another notch.

When Beethoven finished the “Missa Solemnis” in 1823, he described his symphonic incarnation of the Roman Catholic Mass as the greatest work he had written. And posterity has elevated the complex work to one of the touchstones of European culture.

So, given all this, the San Diego Symphony and the San Diego Master Chorale, under Shaw’s command, faced a formidable challenge Thursday night at Copley Symphony Hall. The musicians did not attain the exalted expectations but nevertheless performed a sympathetic and frequently stirring facsimile of the imposing work.

In a December, 1989, performance with the same forces, Shaw teased local audiences with one of the five movements of the “Missa Solemnis,” along with other settings of the “Gloria in excelsis” by Vivaldi and Poulenc. On Thursday, Shaw proffered his overall vision of the “Missa Solemnis,” a testament of sublime spiritual confidence animated by a propulsive, unrelenting inner drive. When the composer inscribed on the score “with devotion,” it was clear from Shaw’s conducting that he interpreted this instruction as an indication of intense spiritual ardor, rather than the pale religious sentimentality that usually passes for devotion.

From the uncanny serenity at the beginning of the “Sanctus” to the finale of the “Gloria”--an “Amen” that danced with exultant affirmation--Shaw illuminated every facet of this expansive, probing work.

The performance’s primary obstacle was the size of the chorus. When Shaw asked for more power and breadth from his choral forces, for example in his majestically paced “Kyrie,” it just wasn’t there. The Master Chorale’s customary discipline and cleanly produced lines did not compensate for the weighty sound Shaw, the symphony’s 75-year-old permanent guest conductor, needed to capture the movement’s gravity. Though the 115-voice Master Chorale had been hastily augmented to about 130 voices, the conscripts were not sufficient to win this choral battle.

The quartet of vocal soloists, however, came through the fray showered with honors. Tenor Karl Dent projected a beautifully focused clarion tone at every opportunity, from his eloquent pleading in the “miserere nobis” to a sublime transparency in the “Benedictus.” Marietta Simpson’s velvety rich mezzo soprano, ably projected, complemented Dent well. Bass Thomas Paul proved his mettle in the stentorian declamation of the “Agnus Dei,” though his tendency to cover his upper notes was a detraction. Soprano Christine Brewer’s voice became pinched in the highest range, but otherwise served with graceful confidence. Perched on a raised platform behind the choir, the quartet’s balanced, blended ensemble easily soared above choir and orchestra.

Shaw brought out the best in the orchestra, stressing pliant, seamless lines. The low strings, notably the cellos, responded with an unusually warm, mellow timbre in the more reflective sections of the Mass. Concertmaster Igor Gruppman crafted the delicate “Benedictus” solo with immaculate, if over cautious, precision. It was one of the orchestra’s most fluent performances in recent memory.

Though this “Missa Solemnis” was not a definitive performance, Shaw’s glimpse of the Beethoven Mass proved an extraordinary musical offering.