Utah Chamber Artists - "For They Shall Be Comforted," Brahms' Requiem

Monday night, Utah Chamber Artists brought one of Utah's most beloved choral works to Libby Gardner Concert Hall, Johannes Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem. Composed between 1865 and 1868 and amidst deep personal turmoil and grief, this is one of Brahms most deeply passionate and evocative works, and has become beloved by audiences around the world as the excellently crafted great choral masterpiece that it is.

Utah Chamber Artists, conducted by Barlow Bradford, gave a solidly dignified performance of the work. The first movement, with it's notable absence of violins, opened with a few shaky entrances in the choir and especially brass as the tempo was being established. But once the movement got going, a true reverence for the music emerged and the lines weaved in and out of each other. Joining the UCA was the University of Utah Chamber Choir, and at around 70 voices, the choirs sounded marvelous together. With the variety of voices on the stage, the choir had an incredibly unified and controlled sound that was nothing less than beautiful.

Baritone Michael Chipman began the third movement and impressively memorized, evoked exquisite passion to this marvelous work. His voice commands the room with impressive presence, yet he has the skill and knowledge to balance a delicacy behind such dominance.

Soprano Celena Shafer is a true star. In the fifth movement she joined the orchestra, her voice soaring up towards heaven as she sang with such emotion that swept the audience away. With her exquisite german and well-honed skill, she showed the knowledge, talent, and stature to give this incredible work the performance it deserves.

The choir really shined in the sixth movement, when they, along with the baritone, proclaim "Death, where is thy victory?" At a solid forte, they exploded in such passion and emotion that it was positively thrilling. Clearly a directorial decision by Bradford, the whole performance led up to this fiery and exciting moment where all was let loose. If there's one thing to be said about the UCA, is that sometimes their performances are too controlled, and too dignified, lack crisp diction, and lack passion and freedom. In this moment of the sixth movement, all was free and the dedication and passion of these performers was something indescribable. The german words were clear and consonants strong, making the dynamic growth and mood elevation exponentially more expressive and moving.

While this was another fine performance by this exceptional group, it left this reviewer wondering why it wasn't more transformative. Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem is really one of the most powerful and excellent pieces of choral music ever written, yet there were only moments of this performance that truly sent this reviewer into transcendent ecstasy. The choir and orchestra had absolutely impeccable intonation, a warm and exquisite sound, and excellent balance. With such fine musicians performing such fine music, my expectations were higher. This was an excellent performance with excellent soloists, I really hope to hear the UCA performing some more exciting, daring, new and challenging music to show off the great talent they have as well as these wonderful standard works as they continue to positively contribute to Utah's rich choral and musical scene.