Newsday, June 2004

For all that religion permeates public life in the United States, American arts organizations can be craven about grappling with matters of faith. Zealots of various stripes have made theology into a minefield, and audiences and institutions tend to take refuge in generic, feel-good spirituality: ethereal washes of sound suitable for all-purpose inspiration but not close scrutiny.

More power, then, to music director Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra, who closed their season with a program touching on the messy junctures of spirituality, nationalism and Romanticism. The
concert's first half could hardly have been more fraught. "Lauda Sion"
is an 1846 setting of a Catholic text by Felix Mendelssohn, a Jewish
convert to Lutheranism. It was followed by "The Love Feast of the
Apostles," an 1843 "Biblical scene" by Richard Wagner, whose loathing of
Jews (including Mendelssohn) poisoned his own works and some strands of European culture down to our day.

The two pieces contrast starkly. While "Lauda Sion" asserts the
supercessionist claims of Christianity's "new king," "sacrifice" and
"law," it brims with sunny ecumenical generosity, combining the
exuberance of Latin polyphony with echoes of Mendelssohn's beloved Bach. The brass sometimes wavered from pitch, and the orchestra occasionally drowned out the spit-and-polish contributions of Concert Chorale of New York, but the performance as a whole seconded the grace and serene joy of Mendelssohn's writing. Soprano soloist Elizabeth Keusch sang with a captivating lilt, serving up satiny tone and elegantly tapered phrases.

"The Love Feast of the Apostles" is a lumbering work, originally
performed by 1,200 male voices in Dresden's acoustically spectacular
Frauenkirche (destroyed in 1945, but being rebuilt and set to reopen in
2006). Alas, neither Avery Fisher Hall's troubled sound quality nor
Concert Chorale's more modest forces lived up to that imposing
provenance, but the vigorous performance revealed the work's tantalizing anticipations of Tannhaüser, Lohengrin and Parsifal.

With the orchestra's entrance after about 15 minutes of a cappella
choral exchanges, Botstein magically summoned the "rushing mighty wind" that marks Jesus' followers' prophesying in many tongues. Wagner's text, no less consumed with "hatred of the enemy" than with Pentecost's "miracles and wonders and signs," might have been the work of Mel Gibson.

Franz Liszt, Wagner's defender and father-in-law, took minor orders in
the Catholic Church late in life. His 1856 "Missa solemnis" is a fervent, theatrical work, with roaring brass to evoke the Last Judgment; writing of sublime tenderness for the mystery of Jesus' incarnation; and phrases of melting lyricism in praise of God's glory. Botstein's exciting reading, with strong vocalism by Keusch, mezzo Jessie Hinkle, tenor Brian Anderson and the redoubtable bass Kevin Burdette, made one regret how infrequently one hears Liszt's choral works (though he has made a comeback in recent years). His "Missa" provided a rousing and, yes, inspiring end to a sometimes troubling but always rewarding program.

AMERICAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA. Music by Mendelssohn, Wagner and Liszt. Leon Botstein, conductor. Attended Sunday at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center.