Utah Arts Review

The Utah Symphony, led by guest conductor Christopher Allen, thrilled a capacity crowd in Abravanel Hall Friday night with an all-Mozart evening. The program presented one work from the composer’s teens and two from the final year of his life.

The evening’s main event was the Requiem, in Robert Levin’s 1993 completion. This edition is distinguished mainly by the inclusion of an “Amen” fugue (completed by Levin from a Mozart sketch discovered in the 1960s) following the “Lacrimosa”; the reworking of the “Hosanna” fugue following the “Benedictus”; and a general lightening of the orchestral texture compared with the standard version completed by Mozart’s student Franz Xaver Süssmayr.

While the Levin feels more balanced and satisfying to many (including this listener), it was difficult at times to reconcile the chamber-scale orchestration with the operatic approach favored by the 100-plus-voice Utah Symphony Chorus, prepared by chorus director Austin McWilliams. For example, it would have been great to hear more contrast between the thundering “Confutatis, maledictis” passages sung by the tenors and basses and the supplicating “vocame” sung by the sopranos and altos. In other movements, such as “Domine Jesu Christe” and the reprise of “Quam olim Abrahae,” the dominant sopranos ran roughshod over the rest of the chorus, obliterating the other sections. They did eventually rein it in, to lovely effect, in the “Agnus Dei.”

Dynamic disparities aside, there was some fine choral singing on display Friday, even if the overall effect was greatly marred by sporadic between-movements applause—unheard of in a Requiem performance. As rehearsed by new chorus master McWilliams (a countertenor who joined the altos), the singers’ diction and articulation were exemplary. 

Each of the soloists—Deanna Breiwick, Cecelia Hall, Matthew Newhouse and Levi Hernandez—had an engaging and distinctive solo presence, and all four coalesced into a pleasing ensemble. The three trombonists of the Utah Symphony also turned in heroic work in a highly demanding role.

A lively performance of the Overture to Die Zauberflöte set an invigorating tone for the evening. The string playing was sprightly and incisive, and the three gleaming Masonic chords in the middle of the overture were executed perfectly by the brass.

Allen’s reading of the Symphony No. 25 in G minor, K. 183, was equally delightful. Conducting from memory, he transitioned seamlessly between the first movement’s taut main theme and the more graceful episodes in which oboist Zachary Hammond shone. The courtly Andante was similarly well-paced, as was the tuneful finale. But the highlight of this performance was the third-movement Menuetto, where the strings’ forceful stomp in the main sections contrasted beautifully with the enchanting playing of the woodwinds in the trio section.

The program will be repeated 5:30 p.m. Saturday. utahsymphony.org