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Friday, 18 February 2011 12:05

Written by Andrew Druckenbrod

I wasn't able to make the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck's Music for the Spirit concert at St. Paul Cathedral Thursday night, so please comment here on how it was. I already heard from a few that said it was amazing. I hate missing those concerts -- but thankfully I hear a lot of amazing from Honeck.

Here are the thoughts of a Post-Gazette staffer, Rosa Colucci, who attended the concert and was wowed:

UPDATE: I asked Rosa to resend her comments in a review form since they were so descriptive:

By Rosa Colucci
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s “Music for the Spirit” concert presented Thursday night with the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh at St. Paul Cathedral in Oakland was a stunning showcase of some of the most magnificent jewels of the city.

Music Director Manfred Honeck created a program on the theme “A Journey from Darkness to Light.” It was a true interfaith journey through music, poetry and historical readings, which is the theme of this new PSO annual series that will encompass concerts and a “commitment to interfaith understanding”

A short prelude by organist Kenneth Danchik set the tone for the sold-out event — presented without intermission — performed on the now-restored instrument in its full glory.

Mr. Honeck opened the evening with Haydn’s Introduction, Recitative and Chorus from “The Creation.”  Its original performance in 1798 created such chaos that special police were called in to keep order as people lined up in the streets outside Schwarzenberg Palace near Vienna to hear the masterpiece. When the orchestra burst into full sound at the line, “and then there was light,” it was as if the heavens had opened to fill the space.

After a reading of a Jewish prayer by Rabbi Aaron Bisno and another Haydn piece (“Te Deum” for the Empress Maria Therese), the combined forces performed a musically radiant Faure’s “Cantique de Jean Racine.” The piece was scored by Mr. Honeck for strings, harp and choir. The Romantic tones were delicately sung by the Mendelssohn Choir. It was mesmerizing.    

Strangely atypical at a classical concert, packages of earplugs were place on on the reserved seating front and center of the altar. The reason why soon became obvious: the performance of the “Tuba mirum” from the Requiem by Hector Berlioz. Trumpets and tubas took to two facing platforms on either side of the audience and two more platforms in the front of the church. It was live surround sound — classical style — and filled the Cathedral with declarations of creation that took your breath away. It was as if Berlioz’s homage to the Christian church was presented with fireworks

The evening ended with the choral finale of Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony. Soprano Katy Williams and mezzo-soprano Lindsay Ammann sang exquisitely in a duet. Mr. Honeck, and Betsy Burleigh and the PSO collectively succeeded in musical excellence to a local landmark and a new context.

Rosa Colucci can be reached at 412-263-1661 or  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it



Comments (1)

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written by mmeestro, February 18, 2011 - 04:15 PM

I had the pleasure of performing with the Mendelssohn Choir for this concert, and couldn't help but continue to be astounded at Honeck's skill for crafting a musical experience. Whereas I feel most would have been happy with the theme of creating unison amongst people of varying faiths through music, Honeck instead chose to also create a journey from darkness into light that, for me, lifted the concert to a higher level.

From our aural vantage point it was difficult to gain a grasp of how we truly sounded, but so far, every word I have heard has been positive. Also, from a purely aesthetic viewpoint, it was a pleasure to perform in such a unique venue as St. Paul's Cathedral. To paraphrase Bishop Zubick's remarks: such a large assembly of people in such a place as this, to partake in such meaningful music, should be considered nothing less than prayer itself. And at least for my own personal experiences, we assuredly succeeded in that regard.

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