Curtain Up!

Join Whatcom Chorale for a thrilling evening of grand opera choruses. Long considered to be the pinnacle of artistic musical expression, opera inspired the creative brilliance of Europe’s most beloved composers. Our program offers choral masterworks from Bizet, Leoncavalla, Mascagni, Mozart, Purcell, Tchaikovsky, Verdi, and Wagner—a vibrant surround sound of genius. This repertoire features our own Sara Negishi as collaborative accompanist and Rebekah Hood-Save as cellist.

Program

Georges Bizet, Habanera (Carmen)
Ruggero Leoncavallo, Bell chorus (Pagliacci)
Pietro Mascagni, Easter hymn (Cavalleria Rusticana)
Wolfgang Mozart, Voyageurs’ chorus (Idomeneo), Priests’ chorus (Die Zauberflöte)
Henry Purcell, Dido’s lament, and final chorus (Dido and Aeneas)
Piotr Tchaikovsky, Chorus of peasant girls (Eugene Oregon)
Guiseppe Verdi, Anvil chorus (Il travatore), Chorus of the Hebrew slaves (Nabucco)
Richard Wagner, Bridal chorus (Lohengrin), Pilgrims’ chorus (Tannhaüser),
Spinning chorus (Der fliegende Holländer)

Program Notes

by Nancy Goldfogel

Most listeners’ impressions of opera likely conjure up grand dramatic arias passionately performed by a cast of virtuosos. As a genre that strives to portray the depth of human emotion, the opera canon is full of characters who face impossible dilemmas and express their angst in glorious song. These enduring melodies show up in today’s popular culture as unexpected accompaniment in movie scores, timepiece commercials, and even Bugs Bunny cartoons. Great arias take center stage, but the composers of opera also lavished their genius on the choral passages that anchored their works in daily life and common experiences. Many choral movements have become well-known artistic gems, as composers took advantage of the opportunity to create elaborate vocal harmonies and orchestral interplay.

The role of the opera chorus, however, is more than ornamental and much more than an artful respite from the primary dramatic action. The chorus serves as the voice of community values, at times agreeing with and at others opposing the protagonists. The chorus sets the stage for what is right and what is wrong, often extolling the tenets of faith, loyalty, love, and communal endeavor. While opera protagonists are frequently of noble birth or even heroic, the chorus is generally made up of common folk. Their celebration of simple ideals connects with the audience and contrasts with the actions of the upper classes, whose behavior often leads to tragic consequences.

Several of today’s pieces are essentially prayers, demonstrating the importance of a common faith and tradition. In Mozart’s “Voyagers’ Chorus” from Idomeneo, the people of Crete and Electra, princess of Argos, ask the gods for calm waters and kind winds before Prince Idamante sets sail. The choral voices echo Idamante’s determination that even after proving his heroism and vanquishing a sea monster, he will submit himself to the will of the gods. The young man’s faith and valorous execution of his fate eventually save him from his father’s unwitting pact with Neptune that threatened Idamante with a sacrificial death.

In Wagner’s Tannhäuser, the devout pilgrims celebrate their return home and the miracle of forgiveness with the thrilling “Pilgrims’ Chorus,” which makes brilliant use of the composer’s signature device, the leitmotif. Tannhäuser appears and is penitent for his previous dedication to sensual rather than spiritual love. His repentance, however, is too late for this world. When he discovers that his love, Elisabeth, has died of heartbreak, he collapses in exhaustion and also dies. Nevertheless, as a symbol of divine forgiveness and resurrection, the pope’s wooden staff blossoms with renewed life.

In Purcell’s wrenching and ethereal “Dido’s Lament,” the chorus voices a requiem for the heartbroken queen’s suicide after her lover, Aeneas, abandons her in obedience to a deceitful enchantress. The warrior prince succumbs to duty and fulfills his destiny to found the Roman Empire, but Purcell asserts that the personal price of political conquest is the loss of true love.

The “Spinning Chorus” from Wagner’s Die Fliegende Holländer offers a more light-hearted personification of the opera’s theme of redemption through faithful love. The industrious women cheerfully sing, confident that their lovers at sea will remain true and eventually return with wealth to secure the promise of marriage and a family life. Their easy camaraderie and communal labor contrasts with the cursed Dutchman’s loneliness as he searches for the one virtuous woman who will accept his devotion and redeem his sin of blasphemy.

Similarly, Leoncavallo’s “Bell Chorus” from Pagliacci playfully depicts the villagers hurrying to vespers for evening Mass. The taunting lyrics reiterate expectations of chastity and fidelity, anticipating the religious ritual in which such expectations help individuals constrain innate passions that could lead to disaster. This comfortable scene of organized devotion contrasts dramatically with the adultery and resultant jealousy that drives the clown, Canio, to murder his wife and her lover on stage.

The exuberant “Anvil Chorus” from Verdi’s Il Trovatore is sung primarily by gypsy laborers as they begin work for the day. The lyrics greet the rising sun and celebrate the idea of living in the moment, just as the “widow discards her robes, shows all her beauty in brilliance gleaming,” and no longer mourns the past. The lusty men look forward to hard work, strong drink, and most of all, the “lovely gypsy maid” who turns “gloom to brightest sunshine.” As the most memorable selection from a complex opera, the chorus presents a powerful contrast to the miserable outcast Azucena, who has dedicated her life to fulfilling her dead mother’s curse upon those who wrongly condemned her to burn as a witch. Azucena succeeds in exacting a terrible revenge but destroys three lives in her madness, including the adopted son she raised as her own.

In the fantastical Die Zauberflöte, Mozart proclaims the Masonic virtues of wisdom, patience, honesty, and loyalty in the “Priests’ Chorus.” This solemn and sonorous declaration by a choir of men strongly contrasts with the Queen of the Night’s shrill and frenetic plea for her daughter Pamina to murder the high priest Sarastro. Guided by the beauty of music, the young initiate Tamino discovers the path of enlightenment with his beloved Pamina and exposes the evil Queen’s dark duplicity.

Wagner’s famous “Bridal Chorus” from Lohengrin celebrates the wedding of Elsa and her mysterious champion as a symbol of unquestioning faith. The lyrics invoke the blessings of love and joy as the couple enters a bond of commitment, but their happiness depends upon Elsa’s complete acceptance of the unknown. She must remain steadfast and grateful to her shining knight but never ask the name of her deliverer. But as is so often the case in opera, there is no “happily ever after.” Prodded by the adversaries of her duchy, Elsa is overcome by uncertainty and breaks her vow. Lohengrin reveals his identity as a knight of the holy grail and returns to his calling, leaving Elsa to die of heartbreak. In the absence of trust, neither marriage nor faith survive.

In the “Chorus of Peasant Girls” from Eugene Onegin, Tchaikovsky depicts a carefree scene of country life, so different from the empty, stultified pursuits of the aristocracy. Young girls sing and joke as they work together harvesting berries, simultaneously flirting and threatening to pelt the onlooking boys with ripe red fruit. The simple vignette of innocent fun idealizes the communal gathering, but also foreshadows Onegin’s insensitive rejection of Tatyana’s love and his flirtation with Olga, the betrothed of his friend Lensky. Onegin’s blasé disregard for human emotion leads to a senseless duel in which he kills his best friend. He lives only to regret his earlier disdain for love freely given.

With the “Habanera,” Bizet created a sensual masterpiece. The opera’s title character, Carmen, declares seductively that love cannot be tamed and will not be controlled by moral constraints. As if to assert their own autonomy, both sexually and politically, the chorus of factory women and enlisted soldiers join her song and reiterate the depiction of love as passionate, unpredictable, and bound by no promises. There is no deception. From the beginning of Act I, Carmen and her compatriots make no excuses for their embrace of forbidden pleasures. In opera, such provocative disregard for social convention must result in tragedy, but the lure of Carmen’s surrender to desire and the freedom of her unfettered lifestyle proves irresistible. The soldier Don José falls in love, becomes an outlaw, and ultimately kills his beloved when she spurns him for another man.

Verdi’s “Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves” from Nabucco voices the intense yearning of an exiled people for their homeland. Set during the Israelites’ Babylonian captivity in the fifth century B.C.E., Verdi’s dramatization of an oppressed people transcends time and culture to resonate with all those struggling to secure freedom. The chorus became the unofficial anthem of the Italian independence movement during Verdi’s lifetime, and at his funeral the crowd spontaneously broke into this moving song.

Mascagni’s magnificent “Easter Hymn” from Cavalleria Rusticana provides a musical backdrop to the repentant Santuzza’s solo soprano voice.  As the chorus processes to celebrate Easter Mass, the betrayed Santuzza adds her voice to glorify Christ’s resurrection, even though she feels herself unworthy. The villagers pass by and treat her disdainfully as a fallen woman. However, her distraught figure recalls the image of Mary Magdalene at the cross, suggesting that no sin is unforgivable.

Whatcom Chorale is delighted to present this evening’s selection of sensational opera choruses, perhaps proving your ears are more attuned to these classic works than you knew.