Boys of Bad Music

For those of us there, it was a splendid evening, ennobled by Sir John’s individual sensibility, and by the rich, balanced sound of the vocal ensemble — 24 strong — and in the individual excellence of an angelic young soprano whose name, Angharad Gruffydd-Jones, is only the least diverting of her qualities. It began royally, with Zadok, the Priest, one of Handel’s grandest coronation anthems, brought on with the blazing brass of long, natural trumpets and the great Handelian counterpoints that melt into hallelujahs once all the voices are safely tucked in. A Mozart Vesper Service (K. 339) came next, velvety, deep music on its own, its piety nicely squared off until about two-thirds in, when a stupendous fugue takes shape on the same subject that will later serve as the “Kyrie” in the Requiem, which served Handel as “And with His stripes” in Messiah and Bach as Fugue VIII in Book I of The Well-Tempered Clavier. How small the world!

I suppose I should write about Esa-Pekka Salonen’s concert with the orchestra of the Crossroads School at Disney Hall, but there’s a problem. The orchestra is famous and proficient; its program — Haydn, Mozart, Bartók — was well-chosen; it was clear that Salonen had rehearsed them carefully. But the music was heard against a background of noise so continuous — feet stomping against that famously resonant floor, doors slamming constantly during performances, applause at every nook and cranny — that concentration became a matter of service beyond the call. I know good things about the education offered at Crossroads, but a course in concert manners — compulsory for all ticket holders, students, parents and, for all I know, board members — might be a valuable addition to the curriculum.