USC Musicians Find Resonance in Requiem

Moving out of Bovard Auditorium, which is due for a renovation this year, the USC Thornton Symphony--with USC Choral Artists, the assisting Camerata Singers of Long Beach and four USC alumni as vocal soloists--gave a springtime showcase in Pasadena Civic Auditorium on Saturday night. The veteran, Romanian-born conductor Sergiu Comissiona, who has been principal conductor of the USC Symphony for three years, led the performance of Verdi’s Requiem.

As a demonstration of the achievements of the student orchestra and choral bodies, this was a handsome display. The instrumentalists had been coached and prepared thoroughly, and they showed remarkable technical finesse, admirable cohesion and bright resonance.

The chorus--about 125 singers total--sang with musical commitment and dramatic gusto. At louder dynamic levels, the choral singing was polished, often clearly enunciated; in the quieter places, it could become mushy and vague.

Comissiona runs a tight musical ship. His tempos were firm, his transitions transparent. Yet he did not inspire his forces to dig deep into the dramatic values in this most operatic of spiritual works--or one might say, in this most spiritual of operatic works.

He let the terrors of the “Dies Irae” speak for themselves but held back on the exuberance of the “Sanctus.” The joy in that movement ought to be unbridled, not just enthusiastic.

Despite many satisfying musical moments, the solo quartet proved mismatched and uncohesive as a unit. Robert MacNeil, the tenor, and Juliana Gondek, who now calls herself a mezzo-soprano, performed fervently, if inconsistently. Michele Patzakis, a soubrettish soprano, was sadly miscast in this most demanding of Verdi roles; as a result, the final “Libera me” failed to achieve its crucial climactic conclusion. Andrew Wentzel was the strong-voiced but unassertive bass soloist.