Marlboro Rehearsal Notes

Yesterday we heard a rendition of Benjamin Britten's Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac, Op. 51 which is based on the medieval Chester Mystery Plays. It is sung by a tenor (Abraham) and an alto (Isaac). The role of God is sung by the two together. They sang beautifully.This is a piece I had never heard before - it is pretty powerful and intense. The singers had excellent diction, but it is in Old English, so I followed along with lyrics I found on-line, which helped a lot.

Here are the lyrics:

GOD: Abraham, my servant, Abraham,
Take Isaac, thy son by name,
That thou lovest the best of all,
And in sacrifice offer him to me
Upon that hill there besides thee.

Abraham, I will that so it be,
For aught that may befall.

Abraham: My Lord, to Thee is mine intent
Ever to be obedient.
That son that Thou to me hast sent
Offer I will to Thee.
Thy bidding done shall be.

Here Abraham, turning to his son Isaac, saith:

Make thee ready, my dear darling,
For we must do a little thing.
This woode do on thy back it bring,
We may no longer abide.
A sword and fire that I will take,
For sacrifice behoves me to make;
God's bidding will I not forsake,
But ever obedient be.

Here Isaac speaketh to his father, and taketh a bundle of sticks and beareth after his father, and saith:

Isaac: Father, I am all ready
To do your bidding most meekely,
And to bear this wood full bayn am I,
As you commanded me.

Here they both go to the place to do sacrifice:

Abraham: Now, Isaac son, go we our way
To yonder mount if that we may.

Isaac: My dear father, I will essay
To follow you full fain.

Abraham being minded to slay his son Isaac, lifts up his hands, and saith the following:

Abraham: O! My heart will break in three,
To hear thy words I have pitye;
As Thou wilt, Lord, so must it be,
To Thee I will be bayn.
Lay down thy faggot, my own son dear.

Isaac: All ready father, lo, it is here.
But why make you such heavy cheer?
Are you anything adread?

Abraham: Ah! Dear God! That me is woe!

Isaac: Father, if it be your will,
Where is the beast that we shall kill?

Abraham: Thereof, son, is none upon this hill.

Isaac: Father, I am full sore affeared
To see you bear that drawne sword.

Abraham: Isaac, son, peace, I pray thee,
Thou breakest my heart in three.

Isaac: I pray you, father, layn nothing from me,
But tell me what you think.

Abraham: Ah! Isaac, Isaac, I must thee kill!

Isaac: Alas! Father, is that your will,
Your owne child for to spill
Upon this hilles brink?
If I have trespassed in any degree
With a yard you may beat me;
Put up your sword, if your will be,
For I am but a child.
Would God my mother were here with me!
She would kneel down upon her knee,
Praying you, father, if it may be,
For to save my life.

Abraham: O Isaac, son, to thee I say
God hath commanded me today
Sacrifice, this is no nay,
To make of thy bodye.

Isaac: Is it God's will I shall be slain?

Abraham: Yea, son, it is not for to layn.

Here Isaac asketh his father's blessing on his knees, and saith:

Isaac: Father, seeing you mustë needs do so,
Let it pass lightly and over go;
Kneeling on my knees two,
Your blessing on me spread.

Abraham: My blessing, dear son, give I thee
And thy mother's with heart free.
The blessing of the Trinity,
My dear Son, on thee light.

Here Isaac riseth and cometh to his father, and he taketh him, and bindeth and layeth him upon the altar to sacrifice him, and saith:

Abraham: Come hither, my child thou art so sweet,
Thou must be bound both hands and feet.

Isaac: Father, do with me as you will,
I must obey, and that is skill,
Godës commandment to fulfil,
For needs so it must be.

Abraham: Isaac, Isaac, blessed must thou be.

Isaac: Father, greet well my brethren ying,
And pray my mother of her blessing,
I come no more under her wing,
Farewell for ever and aye.

Abraham: Farewell, my sweetë son of grace!

Here Abraham doth kiss his son Isaac, and binds a kerchief about his head.

Isaac: I pray you, father, turn down my face,
For I am sore adread.

Abraham: Lord, full loth were I him to kill!

Isaac: Ah, mercy, father, why tarry you so?

Abraham: Jesu! On me have pity,
That I have most in mind.

Isaac: Now, father, I see that I shall die:
Almighty God in majesty!
My soul I offer unto Thee!

Abraham: To do this deed I am sorrye.

Here let Abraham make a sign as tho' he would cut off his son Isaac's head with his sword; then...

GOD: Abraham, my servant dear,
Lay not thy sword in no manner
On Isaac, thy dear darling.
For thou dreadest me, well wot I,
That of thy son has no mercy,
To fulfil my bidding.

Abraham: Ah, Lord of heaven and King of bliss,
Thy bidding shall be done, i-wiss!
A hornëd wether here I see,
Among the briars tied is he,
To Thee offered shall he be
Anon right in this place.

Then let Abraham take the lamb and kill him.

Abraham: Sacrifice here sent me is,
And all, Lord, through Thy grace.

Envoi: Such obedience grant us, O Lord!
Ever to Thy most holy word.
That in the same we may accord
As this Abraham was bayn;
And then altogether shall we
That worthy King in heaven see,
And dwell with Him in great glorye
For ever and ever. Amen.

Later:

Katie and Savanna left after the Britten, but Ellen and I stayed and we got to hear the Beethoven Piano  and Wind Quintet in E-flat Major, and then a full run through of the Dvorak String Quintet which we had heard earlier and so enjoyed. As an added treat, after the Dvorak, Arnold Steinhardt, who was first violin for the Gaurneri string quartet for years, came up and gave some suggestions to the musicians on how to make what was gorgeous sound even better. Very fine points, but offered very graciously and the musicians responded and you could hear the  difference. That was fascinating to observe.

Musicians for the Beethoven Quintet for Piano and Winds, Op. 16.

The Beethoven Quintet rehearsal was unusual in this respect: the clarinetist, Alexander Fiterstein, dominated the rehearsal more than is usual at Marlboro. Our experience there is that rehearsals are very collaborative, with each person making suggestions. Sometimes, after a run-through, a faculty "coach" will come forward and provide a critique, as Arnold Steinhardt did for the Dvoràk. But Fiterstein frequently interrupted the rehearsal to tell others how they should be playing. Not in a pre-emptory way, but prescriptive nonetheless. It was hard to tell if they had all agreed to this in advance. Granted, Fiterstein was probably the senior member of the quintet and had the most experience and perhaps also therefore the greater authority. It's very possible that he was just doing what they asked him to do. In fact, he may very well be Marlboro "faculty," and the other four were all "students." But I don't think there is a hard distinction between faculty and students at Marlboro. They are all listed together as "participants." Anyway, it was interesting and not the usual procedure that we see.

Alexander Fiterstein

I personally was quite impressed with the bassoonist, Marlène Ngalissamy. She is much younger than Fiterstein, but already has an impressive resume and played beautifully. She said very little during the rehearsal, however. Observing the interactions among the musicians is one of the fringe benefits of attending rehearsals.

Marlène Ngalissamy

Her resume:

Marlene Ngalissamy, bassoon:
Born in Moscow, Marlene moved to Canada at the age of 10 and began learning the bassoon three years later. She quickly developed a deep passion for the instrument and was accepted at the Montreal Conservatory of Music in the class of Mathieu Harel.
 
Over the past few years, she had the chance to participate in several workshops: Pacific music festival in Japan, International Summer Academy of the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Pablo Casals Festival, Orford Academy, Chamber Music Academy of the National Arts Centre in Ottawa and Domaine Forget. She had lessons with several national and international masters such as Dag Jensen, Carlo Colombo, Laurent Lefevre, Ole Kristian Dahl, Stéphane Levesque, Gustavo Nuñez, Christopher Millard, Vincent Parizeau and Louise Pellerin. She worked with different conductors such as Kent Nagano, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Juanjo Mena, Vasily Petrenko, Allain Trudel, Julian Kuerti, Robert D. Levin and many others.
 
Winner of the first prize in the Canadian Music Competition (2012), she performed the W. A. Mozart bassoon concerto with the gala orchestra in Toronto. As a soloist, she performed with the Metropolitan Orchestra of Montreal, the Montreal Youth Symphony Orchestra and the orchestra of the Conservatory of Montreal. She played with different orchestras in Quebec such as The Metropolitan Orchestra of Montreal, les Violons du Roy and The Montreal Symphony Orchestra as both substitute bassoon and contrabassoon. She was also part of a chamber music recital at the Salle Bourgie in February 2015 with some of the OSM musicians.
 
In February 2014, Marlene gave a recital at the Red Path Hall at McGill University as part of the Montreal High Lights Festival. The performance was recorded and broadcasted on CBC radio2. She is also a finalist of the MegQuigley bassoon Competition 2015.
 
One of the eight laureates of the Developing Artist Grant of the Hnatyshyn Foundation (2013), Marlene completed her Bachelor degree at the Montreal Conservatory with Mathieu Harel and Stéphane Levesque. She is now attending the Curtis Institute of music in the class of Daniel Matsukawa. She recently played with the Jupiter Chamber Orchestra Players in New-York and will have the opportunity to perform the Weber bassoon concerto with the Edmonton Symphony orchestra in October 2018.