STUDENT MUSIC REVIEW: Bernstein's Mass - The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester.

Leonard Bernstein wrote his Mass at the beginning of the 1970s. And although Bernstein was a Jew, he was commissioned to write a piece for the opening of a new concert hall in Washington DC in memory of President Kennedy. Kennedy was the first Catholic president, and so Bernstein took the opportunity to take the Catholic mass and "rework" it. 

This 'reworking' resulted in a behemoth of a piece of music, which is rarely performed these days, possibly due to the scale of the work, requiring symphony orchestra, jazz band, large mixed choirs, a further 22 singer / performers, and 2 soloists! Bernstein poured all his creative energies into this work, often getting very depressed and finding himself unable to continue, but being spurred on by fellow composers and friends, he finally finished the work, which runs for almost 2 hours, late 1971. The Mass fuses all the styles of music that Bernstein was fond of, and sometimes it feels very religious and churchified, whilst at others it is irreverent with musical passages sounding like his works in Musical Theatre. There is a veritable pot-pourri of genres here: rock, folk, Big Band, blues, Gospel, and jazz, sitting side-by-side with classical and sacred. 

William Dazeley shone as the Celebrant, the main soloist and narrator (perhaps even instigator) of the piece. His vocal range changing easily from low bass baritone to high falsetto and everything in between. His vocal dexterity was boundless with a mellow and rich baritone central voice, whilst his enigmatic presence and theatrical skill undoubted. His younger counterpart, a girl from Chetham's School Of Music [credited only as 'Erin' in the programme] was also delightful, and her voice and performance shone.

This was a big collaborative event, and although the majority of the students in this performance were from the RNCM - The RNCM Symphony Chorus (all 126 of them), The RNCM Symphony Orchestra, The RNCM Band, and 22 further RNCM singers who are 'The Street Chorus', needed to act and sing solos as required, the choir was augmented with a further 30 young ladies from Chetham's School Of Music who were tasked with singing different parts from the main body of the choir. It was an organisational nightmare, but one that paid dividends a thousand fold. This truly was a spectacle both aurally and visually. And all masterfully conducted by Clark Rundell with the choruses directed by Stuart Overington.

My prior knowledge of this Mass was simply having heard a couple of the songs played on the radio, and nothing more. The piece is highly dramatic, and pulls at your emotional responses all the way through. Some parts are jocular, some sarcastic, some truly ethereal; and the final section Pax: (Secret Songs), was choreographed and performed with such simple skill, that it had many of the audience in tears. Highly emotional. I loved the use of polyphony and off-stage playing and singing too, thus giving the impression of something much larger and all-encompassing, not confining itself to just this one building. Obviously a huge amount of thought and planning had gone into bringing this incredible piece of "music-theatre" to the stage, and all I can do is simply congratulate and thank those responsible. What an incredible experience!

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 12.3.23