Hadyn Serves Master Chorale Well in the Grand Balance

Sunday night, the Los Angeles Master Chorale lifted its polished mass of sound into the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, with a concert promising grandeur and balance. Chorale conductor Paul Salamunovich led grand musical forces, between the amply voiced chorale and the instrumental complement of the Sinfonia Orchestra, and the program was balanced between pieces old and very new.

From the modern corner came the world premiere of Morten Lauridsen’s “Lux Aeterna,” a sizable new work comprised of five movements without pause. Written in a conscientiously tonal and accessible vocabulary, it’s an abidingly peaceful opus.

Whereas other 20th century composers have sought ways to blend venerable liturgical traditions with contemporary ideas, Lauridsen applies an unbendingly lyrical voice here. The listener waits for dark corners or points of tension or harmonic twists that never arrive, leaving an impression of a music that is light, nearly to the point of being lite.

Opening with a Magnificat once thought to have been written by Pergolesi, but later associated with his teacher, Francesco Durante, the concert reached its apogee in the second half, which was devoted to Haydn. The composer’s “Missa Cellensis” was given a majestic and poised reading, with lucid detail work from soloists, soprano Marie Hodgson, alto Leslie Inman Sabedra, tenor Sal Malaki and baritone Stephen Grimm. An enthralling finale of Haydn’s Te Deum brought the concert back to solid ground, and celestial reach.