Much-admired but seldom-performed "completed" version of

Mozart choral masterwork, May 17 & 18

Photos: Mozart; Handel Society conducted by Robert Duff, courtesy of Hopkins Center

HANOVER, NH—As prolific as he was, Mozart never finished his two greatest choral masterpieces. He died before he could complete his Requiem; as for his Mass in C Minor, some historians speculate that it was simply a matter of money: Mozart deeply wanted to compose a mass, but nobody commissioned it. Musically virtuosic and enormous in scale, the new mass clearly violated the wishes of both Emperor Joseph II and the archbishop of the church, who had called for the simplification of church singing, the elimination of solo singing and fugues, and a time limit of 45 minutes. Newly married, Mozart had to make a living, so the mass was set aside.

Whatever the reason, the mass remained incomplete at his death, nine years later—leaving it to later composers and musical sleuths to take it upon themselves to fill in the missing movements.

In its concerts on May 17 and 18, the 100-voice town-gown Handel Society of Dartmouth College offers the most recent—and best regarded—“completion” of the Mass in C Minor, created in 2005 by the brilliant Harvard pianist scholar Robert Levin, who previously completed Mozart’s Requiem to high praise.

Called "the Sherlock Holmes of Mozart, solving the mysteries of history's most elusive genius" (The Buffalo News), Levin’s version of the Mass is "a spellbinding journey that revealed Mozart in a new light" (Birmingham Evening Mail) and "alive with imagination, not dead remnants of dusty scholarship" (The Financial Times, London). Wrote The Toronto Globe and Mail, "Few creative partnerships have spanned such a distance of time and space, and produced anything as good as Levin's completed versions of pieces that Mozart left unfinished."

Levin’s project involved, along with vast academic research, the hunting down of documents in such disparate places as Augsburg, Vienna, Coburg, Krakow, and Berlin; the discovery of a missing Mass section among the sketches of an unfinished comic opera called The Goose in Cairo; and forensic analyses of music manuscript papers and inks used at different points in the composer's life. In all, Levin contributed about 25 percent of the music in his version.

Though much-admired, the Mozart/Levin work has been performed only a handful of times across the nation, says Handel Society Director Robert Duff. It's a long work, and far more challenging to sing than Mozart's Requiem, with the chorus singing long, rapid runs of notes like those in Mozart's operas. To prepare, the chorus has spent extra time with vocal coach Erma Mellinger, and members were assigned daily vocal exercises to develop the breath support and vocal flexibility needed to effortlessly articulate each note of the runs. "Without this kind of technical development, what you get is 'vocal hydroplaning,'" Duff said.

The chorus is joined by a full orchestra and outstanding soloists, including tenor Dann Coakwell, baritone David McFerrinand soprano Julia Steinbok. Coakwell has been praised by The New York Times as a “clear-voiced and eloquent … vivid storyteller"; and The Dallas Morning News has commended him as “the standout vocal soloist…with a gorgeous lyric tenor that could threaten or caress on the turn of a dime." Coakwell sang Bach’s majestic St. Matthew Passion with the Handel Society last spring, and has international performing credits that include singing as a soloist under the baton of Handel specialist Helmuth Rilling and early music specialist William Christie. Close to the time of his Hopkins Center performance, he will make his solo debut at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall in New York in the East Coast debut of Brad Ellingboe’s new oratorio, Star Song.

Praised by The New York Times for his “appealingly textured sound,” McFerrin is achieving critical acclaim in a wide variety of repertoire. Featured for a second season as an Emerging Artist with Boston Lyric Opera, he also sings the role of Noah in Britten’s Noye’s Fludde with Boston’s Trinity Church, and Will Hutchinson in the premiere of Dan Shore’s Anne Hutchinson for Intermezzo Opera WHERE. Concert engagements this season include his soloist debut with the Handel and Haydn Society in Bach’s B Minor Mass, an all-Purcell program at the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico, and performances around the country with the Blue Heron Renaissance Choir. Regional audiences might have heard him during his three summer residencies at the Marlboro Music Festival in Marlboro, VT.

Steinbok's versatility and unique musical presence have made her increasingly sought after on the concert, recital, and operatic stage.Her interpretation of Renaissance and Baroque works has met with critical acclaim: the Washington Times praised her “breathtaking expertise” in performances with the Folger Consort, and the Boston Musical Intelligencer lauded her “positively angelic, crisp, brilliantly colored voice." An avid recitalist and proponent of contemporary music, she has paid particular attention to women composers past and present. Recent projects included performances with Exultemus and Newton Baroque, La Donna Musicale, Cappella Clausura, Saltarello, and Stranieri Qui, as well as vocal recitals throughout New England.Steinbok sings with Boston Baroque and is a member of Blue Heron vocal ensemble, with whom she is participating in a five-disc series of recordings of music from the 16th-century Peterhouse Partbooks.

The Handel Society is the oldest student, faculty, staff and community organization in the United States devoted to the performance of choral-orchestral major works. The Society was founded in 1807 by Dartmouth faculty and students to “promote the cause of true and genuine sacred music.” Led by John Hubbard, Dartmouth Professor of Mathematics and Philosophy, the Society sought to advance the works of Baroque masters through performance. Members of the Society believed the grand choruses of George Frideric Handel exemplified their goals and thus adopted his name for their group. Since its inception, the Handel Society has grown considerably in size and scope of programming. Today, comprising 100 members drawn from the Dartmouth student body, faculty and staff, and the Upper Valley community, the Society performs two or three concerts a year of major works both old and new.

Duffreceived his doctorate in musical arts from the University of Southern California. He studied conducting with E. Wayne Abercrombie, Alan Harler, Lynn Bielefelt, William Dehning, and John Barnett. A former director of music for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, he taught at Claremont Graduate University, Pomona College, and Mount St. Mary’s College. He is the President of the Eastern Division of the American Choral Directors Association.

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Mozart's Mass in C Minor by the Handel Society of Dartmouth College

Mozart never finished his two greatest choral masterpieces. Fortunately for us, the brilliant Harvard pianist and scholar Robert Levin did, "completing" Mozart's Requiem in 1991 and his Mass in C Minor in 2005 ("a glorious, fully Mozartean vision of a complete Mass…as inspired a guess as we're likely to hear"—The New York Times). In this concert, the 100-voice Handel Society of Dartmouth College is joined by tenor Dann Coakwell ("[a] clear-voiced and eloquent…vivid storyteller"—The New York Times); baritone David McFerrin ("appealingly textured sound"—The New York Times); and sopranos X and Y.Robert Duff, director.

Saturday, May 17, 8 pm

Sunday, May 18, 2 pm

Spaulding Auditorium, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, Hanover NH 03755

$15, Dartmouth students $5, all other students $10

Information: hop.dartmouth.edu or 603.646.2422

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Founded in 1962, the Hopkins Center for the Arts is a multi-disciplinary academic, visual and performing arts center dedicated to uncovering insights, igniting passions, and nurturing talents to help Dartmouth and the surrounding Upper Valley community engage imaginatively and contribute creatively to our world. Each year the Hop presents more than 300 live events and films by visiting artists as well as Dartmouth students and the Dartmouth community, and reaches more than 22,000 Upper Valley residents and students with outreach and arts education programs. After a celebratory 50th-anniversary season in 2012-13, the Hop enters its second half-century with renewed passion for mentoring young artists, supporting the development of new work, and providing a laboratory for participation and experimentation in the arts.

CONTACT:

Rebecca Bailey, Publicity Coordinator/Writer

Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College

603.646.3991