MOZART WOULD HAVE APPROVED

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MOZART WOULD HAVE APPROVED

Mozart Would Have Approved

During a Honolulu Symphony performance of the Mozart Requiem, I noticed that one of the female altos joyfully swayed back and forth whenever she was singing. She had a wide arc for her almost hypnotic gyrations because none of her fellow altos were right beside her. Although she was wearing the obligatory face mask, I could sense that she was beaming with delight as the music enraptured her. After a while, I tuned into her engaging positive energy: she inspired me to discretely swing along with her.

Mozart’s Requiem is a glittering gem in its own right. Watching the alto’s delightful antics added an extra sheen to the performance.

Years ago, when I was a member of a city-wide chorus offering Handel’s The Messiah at Christmastime, the music director of the North Carolina Symphony cautioned us to remain stationary as we sang. It would be unseemly and unprofessional to do otherwise. Only soloists had the option to move about as they performed. What a bummer! Most of the chorus was appalled at her edict. A few of us rebelled: I was one of them.

If the Mozart Requiem alto were in my choral group, I am sure that she would have joined me and my compatriots in rhythmically expressing ourselves through our untrammeled body language as well as our voices.

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