An evening of music featuring women’s voices and string orchestra mesmerized the audience at St. Philip Neri Church (May 12). The concert featured In Mulieribus, the professional women’s vocal ensemble, and Camerata PYP, the top-notch chamber orchestra of the Portland Youth Philharmonic, in a unique collaboration to present the world premiere of Jessica Meyer’s “Because I Will Not Despair” and the West Coast premiere of Kareem Roustom’s “Hurry to the Light.” Conducted by PYP musical director David Hattner, each piece created a fresh sonic world augmented by thought-provoking texts that impressively emphasized the female perspective.
Since the PYP had previously commissioned Meyer, a professional violist and composer based in New York City, in 2020 for the terrific viola octet, “A Fire to be Kindled,” she was co-commissioned by In Mulieribus and PYP for the new work. She responded with “Because I Will Not Despair,” in which she knit together four poems by Alicia Jo Rabins, an award-winning poet who lives in Portland.
Meyers gave the four movements of “Because I Will Not Despair” different titles than the title of the original poems, and that gave the music more a fluid context. Starting with “Healing/Breaking,” the words suggest a struggled within the soul, and the orchestra supported that feeling with dynamic contrasts that surged ahead and subsided to a calmer space. “The Name Beneath Our Names” linked women through the generations with an harmonic underlayment from all forces and two briefly evocative cello solos. “By the Flames” expressed resilience through troubling times with leaping sounds and the strings swelling to a slashing ending. “Resist” began acapella with syllabic fragments that gradually became words. The strings joined in and gradually raised a thrilling crescendo to the culminating statement: ‘Because I will not despair I resist.’
Meyer’s piece delivered a panoply of dynamic contrast for both the singers and the instrumental ensemble. Several exposed passages for individual members of In Mulieribus were wonderfully sung by mezzo Hanna Penn and soprano Amanda Jane Kelley. Incisive playing by the orchestra involved extended techniques and tricky tempo changes, and the musicians conquered with panache. The overall sound was not deterred by the warm, echoing acoustic of the church, and the audience responded with a standing ovation.
The sentiment and direction of Meyer’s “Because I Will Not Despair” segued perfectly to Roustom’s “Hurry to the Light,” which is based on Homer’s “The Odyssey” in a new, acclaimed translation by Emily Wilson that tells the famous legend from a female perspective. Presenting crucial elements of the story through the words of Penelope, Circe, Athena, Anticlea, and the Sirens, Roustom created a colorful sonic tapestry that was absolutely captivating.
Consisting of seven movements, “Hurry to the Light” began with an orchestral snap and the women singing in Ancient Greek. As Penelope (Odysseus’s wife), they told of her crafty method to hold off the many suitors while waiting for her husband to return. The orchestra underscored the scene with lines that threaded back and forth. This was followed by Circe’s instructions for Odysseus so that he could survive the many dangers on his way home. The agitated tremolos from the orchestra emphasized the treacherous rocks that harbored the monstrous Scylla, and the movement came to a furious end with the women emphatically warning Odysseus to “Row fast!” The movement in which a phantom visits Penelope to reassure her about her son. Despite soothing passages, there was an undercurrent of restlessness, and when Penelope – sung with vivid emotion by soprano Henriët Fouriet – asked about her husband, the phantom gave an elusive reply, complemented by strings that faded into silence. This was followed by the sirens enticing Odysseus with their glissando-like voices – a highlight of the piece. Soprano Catherine van der Salm invoked the warning of Odysseus’s mother, admonishing him to “Hurry to the Light” on his journey homeward. An orchestral interlude depicting Penelope’s questioning of Odysseus featured staggered entries and a layering effect that culminated with a terrific emotional release into the final movement in which wife and husband are reunited. The piece concluded with glassy, smooth, sounds – no vibrato – and bliss.
Roustom ingeniously created the music for the women – all of whom were expertly prepared by IM artistic director Anna Song – so that we heard solo voices, duets, sections (for example, all altos), and other combinations that made the piece so compelling. Word painting by the orchestra wonderfully complemented the text, and with Hattner on the podium, the results were superb.
During the talk back session after the performance, Meyer paid high compliments to the orchestra and singers. I am wondering if there would be a chance for PYP to make a recording of these pieces, because they were performed at such a high level. I will not despair if no recording is made, but I would still hope that IM and Camerata PYP would do this program again in the near future.
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