Berlioz has a reputation for grandiose pieces, involving a multitude of musicians, but L’Enfance du Christ is different. Written in 1853/54 for a chamber orchestra and small chorus it is an expose of exquisite musical minimalism.
He was in a fragile state of mind when he started the composition having been devastated by the Parisian audiences rejection of his previous piece The Damnation of Faust: “nothing in my career as an artist wounded me more deeply than this unexpected indifference.” However, L’Enfance du Christ (The Childhood of Christ) started to evolve and several years later his "sacred trilogy" was performed in Paris to great acclaim.
A deeply moving, musical journey it tells the tale of Herod’s Dream of a Child who will overthrow him and of Mary and Joseph being warned by angels to flee to Egypt. Part 2 is their flight into Egypt and the trilogy culminates with their safe Arrival at Sais.
The words were written by Berlioz, despite the fact he wasn’t a particularly religious person. He had had an unusual religious upbringing in that his father was an atheist and his mother an orthodox Roman Catholic. Neither had he any formal musical training nor any encouragement to compose, for his parents wanted him to be a doctor. But Berlioz found his path, despite frequent public criticism of his ‘bizarre and discordant’ work, and this piece contains some of the most tender, haunting melodies.
The performance was a tour de force. Robin Ticciati, this season's Principal conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, conducted the piece with great sensitivity. Although still only his twenties, he has already developed an awesome reputation for this conducting skills and has been the youngest to conduct the orchestra at La Scala, Milan.
The soloists were outstanding. The tenor Yann Beuron as the Centurion and Narrator; the baritone Ronan Collett as Polydorus and Joseph; the Scottish mezzo soprano Karen Cargill, whose depth of emotional range was superb and Matthew Rose, the bass singer as Herod and the Ishmaelite Father whose voice has a beautiful, rich tone.
The musicians of the SCO give a predictably fine performance and the SCO choir sounded magnificent in places, particularly in the extraordinary ending of the piece which concludes with an exquisite unaccompanied pianissimo "Amen".
Times
Friday 5 February, City Halls, Glasgow 7.30pm
Saturday 6 February, Music Hall, Aberdeen, 7.30pm