By Jeremy Eichler, Globe Staff
Charles Ansbacher conducts the Boston Landmarks Orchestra on Wednesday night in its final concert of the season at the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade.
As every classical music fan knows, when it comes to live performances, the city pretty much shuts down during the summer. Which is precisely why the Boston Landmarks Orchestra provides an invaluable service with its series of free outdoor concerts at the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade. You don’t need to drive hours to get to Tanglewood or Marlboro or wherever else. Just hop on the T and there you are.
This summer’s inclement weather sent the orchestra scurrying to its rain location on several occasions, but on Wednesday evening, for the final concert of the season, the skies were clear and the air temperature was perfect. A large crowd, estimated by officials at about 5,000, made its way to the Esplanade to hear Charles Ansbacher lead the orchestra, the Chorus Pro Musica, and a quartet of vocal soloists in Verdi’s Requiem. It was heartening to see a lot of families turn out, as well as younger listeners looking as if they had come straight from the office.
Verdi’s massive Requiem was an ambitious choice for an outdoor concert series that typically tends toward lighter fare, but precisely for that reason, it was a strong way to cap the season. As usual, the musicians were forced to do battle with police sirens on Storrow Drive and the limits of a patchy amplification system, so this was not an occasion for reveling in the pristine details and inner workings of this monumental score. But nevertheless, Ansbacher was an energetic leader who wisely chose to focus on the work’s broader dramatic arc. And while much of the impassioned choral singing and a handful of orchestral moments came through the speakers sounding very rough-hewn, the grandeur and solemnity of Verdi’s masterpiece still translated, and in the “Dies Irae,” its forcefulness was unmistakable. For its part, the crowd sat in rapt silence for more than 90 minutes and then was on its feet cheering.
The performance had in its favor a strong set of vocal soloists. Soprano Barbara Quintiliani was not in her finest voice but she still brought to her solo lines a forceful operatic delivery and dramatic flair, especially in the closing “Libera Me.” Mezzo Mary Westbrook-Geha sang with warmth and substance, tenor Yeghishe Manucharyan brought ample ardency to the “Ingemisco,” and Robert Honeysucker sang, for the most part, with a sturdy and dignified baritone.
The orchestra returns to the Esplanade next season, and in the meantime, on Oct. 4, it reconvenes for a free concert on Milk Street to help inaugurate the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.
Original link: http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2008/09/12/verdi_with_a_view_of_the_charles/