今日は観客がみんな合唱団員となるメサイアコンサートだ。トロントの街を歩いてみるとクラシック音楽環境はまるで不毛地帯かのようだが、マッシーホールはグレン・グールドも演奏したことがあり、歴史を感じさせる劇場だ。開演1時間前をめざして午後1時頃にホールに行ったら、入口前の道も狭いロビーもごった返していた。中に入るとステージに近い前方の席は上手がソプラノ、下手がアルトの女声陣に振り分けられており、後方1/3ほどが男性用となっていた。それでも僕はアルトのすぐ後の席に座れた。2階や3階席もパートの仕切りはされていたようだが、確認はしていない。後方にはパートを指定しないミックスという席も用意されていて、仲間でまとまって歌いたい人たちはそこに座るようだ。会場の雰囲気は通常の演奏会のそれとは全然別物で、観客のほとんどは普段着姿、あちこちで井戸端会議のような賑やかな会話が飛び交っている。
開演時間が近づくと、団員がボツボツという感じで三々五々ステージに現れる。やっと合唱団員全員も揃ったところで、SPに護られた老ヘンデルというコスプレの指揮者Ivars Taurinsが覚束ない足取りでゆっくり現れるという趣向だ。まじめな演奏会も昨日で終わり、今日は観客も含めて羽目を外せる打ち上げをみんなで楽しもうという空気が充満している。指揮者は観客を笑わせる話をいろいろ続け、まるでお笑い番組でメサイアを歌い始めるという雰囲気は東京でやってきたこととは対極にあるシチュエーションというのが感慨深い。
それでもヘンデル時代はこうだったのだとか、Pifaの意味知ってるかい？と蘊蓄あるトリビアを披露するなど、バロックに親しめる企画になっているのだ。実はこの催しは来年が25周年とのことで、それって凄いことだと思う。これまでずっと皆勤で通い続けた人も若干いて、最前列のど真ん中に座っているおばさんもそんなひとりだ。全般的に年配客が多いのはやや残念なところではある。
演奏するのは全35曲とかなり抜粋されているが、それぞれのソリストの聴きどころはもちろん外さないし、まずまずの構成か。詳細はプログラムの写真で。
ターフェルムジーク・バロック合奏団は弦が4+4+3+2+1、オーボエとトランペット各2、あとはバスーン、ティンパニ、チェンバロ、オルガンのみで合計19名の小編成でステージに登場した。合唱団は7+4+5+5だが、生憎この状況では合唱の声を聞くことは不可能。オケは軽やかで、古楽器的な弦のハスキーさはなく、硬質さより柔らかさを感じる演奏だったのが予想と違っていた。独唱者の力量もそれぞれちゃんとしたもので、ソプラノのChristine Brandesは魅力ある歌唱をするし、カウンターテナーのDaniel Taylorもしっかりした歌い手だった。テナーのRufus Müllerは表現がオペラ的に出っ張る感じもあるがこのジャンルに足を残しているし力量に不安はない。バリトンのBrett Polegatoはテナーかと見紛うような高音域の声質で気合いの入った「トランペットは響き」を聞かせて満場の喝采を得た。皆歌い方に無理がないのが良いし、独唱者たちは指揮者のようなおちゃらけはしないので、歌い終わるとまじめに賞賛の拍手が起こる。これくらい粒が揃ったソリスト陣でメサイアが組めたらどんなに良いかと思う。歌には自由なアドリブや装飾が多く入っていて、この日の演奏を聴いていると、40年この方世界で前進してきたバロック音楽の運動がしっかりこの地に根を張っているんだなあと実感する。Pifa後のソプラノのアリオーゾなどは聞いたことのないバージョンの歌で、物語を聞いているような鮮烈な刺激だった。
さて、実際の合唱だが、真後の席のおじさん「3 Tenors」組が、歌ったことがあるという程度なのだろう、メロディーの音階も拍取りも全くの我流で外しまくるので、足を引っ張られるように数カ所で落ちてしまった。流石に28番などは彼らには手も足も出ないみたいだった。全体としては、聞こえてくる範囲で言えば、バスは良く歌っていたし、ソプラノも悪くなかったと思う。アーメン・コーラスが終わると、もう一度ハレルヤで〆ようとアンコールして、最後に老ヘンデルが「Go Home!」と叫んでお開きになると、会場を後にする人々の顔には満足感が溢れていた。結論としては、中華料理と同じで、仲間で参加するのが楽しいイベントと思う。でもここに戻ってくことはいつかあるだろうか？あるいは自分の立地で、同じ志で何かやれことはあるだろうか？
Toronto as a city does not look so much into classical music, but today, Sunday, is the day for a concert in which the whole audience becomes a choir singing Messiah at Massey Hall where Glenn Gould also played. When I arrived at the theater around one o’clock to allow 1-hour margin, the road in front of the theater entrance as well as its small lobby was packed by people already. Inside the hall, the seats closer to the stage were all assigned for sopranos on the right and for altos on the left. Boys had about 1/3 of the entire space behind them. I still managed to get a seat right behind altos. The balconies on the second and the third floors seemed also allocated by voices, but I did not check it. In addition, “mix” section was prepared further behind ours, and groups of combined voices could conveniently gather there. The atmosphere was very different from normal concerts: people were dressed casually and conversations were all over across the hall, which appeared more like a community event.
Old Herr Handel in an authentic costume slowly and painfully walked in as escorted by a quartet of SP guys. This was the conductor Ivars Taurins. The serious concerts were over by yesterday, and today is the party day for everybody gathered here. Ivars continued funny talks and jokes, and this kind of situation was completely opposite, interestingly, from what we had done in Tokyo with more religious atmosphere.
Still, the event is programmed to get familiar with baroque music: Herr Handel explained a few things of his period, and asked to the audience what Pifa meant for a better understanding of the music background. Astonishingly, this event will celebrate its 25th anniversary next year, and it is just amazing to me. A few people kept participating since the beginning, and the lady in the center of the first row is one of them. The average age of the audience looked rather high and it would be even nicer if more young generations were here, too.
The performance consisted of total 35 excerpts, but the important arias for each soloist were not forgotten. The exact list can be referred in the attached picture. Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra consists of 4+4+3+2+1 strings from high to low, 2 oboes, 2 trumpets, and the rest is 1 each bassoon, timpani, harpsichord and organ. A small ensemble of 19 players. The chorus was 7+4+5+5, but we could not hear them in this particular situation. The orchestra was swift and the strings of period instruments were not so husky unexpectedly. Their music flew gently without hard edges. The soloists were all quite good: Christine Brandes, soprano, sang charmingly; Daniel Taylor, counter-tenor, was very reliable; Rufus Müller, tenor, had somewhat operatic character but his foot was still on this genre of music and a good singer; Brett Polegato, baritone, revealed his nice voice in high notes like a tenor and sang “the trumpet shall sound” very powerfully to achieve an enormous applause throughout the hall. What is so impressive is all these soloists can sing the language with no strain in contrast to the situation in Japan. As the soloists don’t play funny, unlike the conductor, they were applauded with handclaps after each aria they sang. They sang with abundant frills and adlibs, and with all those elements, I really felt that the restoration movement of baroque music last 40 years or so had now firmly rooted in this ground here in Toronto. Soprano’s arioso after Pifa was unheard version to me, and it sounded more storytelling than usual, and very refreshing.
As for the chorus, the group of “three tenors” behind me looked like they kind of had sung this music nearly once, and their melody was arbitrarily off the notes as well as the points to cut in to affect the neighbors, and it actually caused me to drop singing in several passages unfortunately. They seemed totally unable to cook the song No. 28 “He trusted in God” apparently. In overall, as far as I could hear, the bass was singing quite well, and the sopranos equally good. When we finished the final “Amen chorus”, the conductor offered a bonus of “Hallelujah” encore, and then in the end he shouted to us “go home!” Satisfactions were visible in people’s faces as they leave the hall. To conclude this experience, it would be most enjoyable to participate in a group of friends just like a Chinese dinner. I wonder if I would ever come back again? Or can I find something identical in spirit on my own ground?
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