Los Angeles will be the stage for the Orfeó Català's great challenge

Barcelona"From the heart: let it go to the heart," wrote Ludwig van Beethoven in the heading of the Solemn MassHe composed it between 1819 and 1823, when he was also working on the Ninth SymphonyIn fact, he premiered both in the same performance in Vienna in 1824, although the version of the mass was not the final one. Solemn Mass It is a work of full maturity and, at the same time, from a very difficult period, marked by overwhelming deafness. Those close to him maintained that this mass was his masterpiece, and also the Solemn Mass It has gone down in history as one of the most demanding works in the symphonic-choral repertoire.

The Orfeó Català and the Palau de la Música Chamber Choir are getting closer every day to the great challenge of performing it with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra (LA Phil), under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel, on February 20, 21, and 22. Strong winds threatened Thursday's rehearsal, but by 8:30 p.m. the Espai Palau was buzzing with excitement. The challenge is twofold: debuting in the United States with such a difficult work and, to top it all off, it will be the first time Dudamel conducts the piece, in his farewell season with the LA Phil. The stage is set for excitement. And the tickets are sold out. At the door, one of the sopranos, Isis Royo, hands out stickers with the Orfeó Català logo that she made for people to put on their suitcases. Everything runs smoothly: everyone gets in place, stretches, vocal warm-up, and the rehearsal begins. It's fascinating to hear the singers accompanied only by a piano, and with the Glory The first explosion of the work arrives.

"We're a good enough team that we don't have to manually adjust the sound; I'm sure we won't have to at Walt Disney Hall either. We're focused on the quality of the sound, the color of the sound," Puig tells them, recalling each and every measure where he detects a detail he wants to correct or polish. "Each movement is a world unto itself, and within them are truly very different effects for which we have to find the right sound," the director explains.

"When they explained the project to us, we were stunned because it's a huge challenge. The Solemn Mass "It's a piece with many contrasts; the vocal range is very wide—there are very high and very low parts—it has very complex fugues and very fast moments," says Irene Recolons, one of the contraltos. She has been singing with the Orfeó for seven years and participated in Dudamel's previous projects with the ensemble. Solemn Mass Everyone needs to have their voice under control, know how to treat it, how to endure it, because it's a very long piece [it lasts an hour and a half]. You might find yourself unable to continue after ten minutes because you're tired," she warns. "You have to be very attentive to the conductor at all times, and very aware of when you breathe, and when we breathe together," says Maria Chapman, one of the sopranos, who sings. "It helps you get to know people better," she adds, "and I think this difficulty has brought us closer together; we communicate more." Solemn Mass "It's very demanding, and my more experienced colleagues have explained techniques to me to make it less difficult." "It's a piece that wasn't at all intuitive for me," says one of the tenors, Martí Serrallonga. "It was very difficult to create a mental model, to anticipate what's coming and how you'll sing it," he recalls.

A true "sound cathedral"

The singers give it their all: marathon rehearsals on Saturday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights. To arrive in Los Angeles in peak condition, they prepared by performing three concerts with the Vallès Symphony Orchestra in November. The program for those concerts states that the Solemn Mass It is "a true sonic cathedral that transcends the liturgical genre to become a spiritual and artistic statement." And it is recalled that Beethoven wrote this mass "not only as an expression of faith, but as an almost philosophical quest for the meaning of existence and divinity."

To rise to the challenge, Puig devised a highly individualized plan: the singers worked on specific passages with the voice teachers. Later, they held numerous partial rehearsals with the collaboration of other conductors, and divided the Orfeó into three smaller groups so that each could assume "the responsibility of a small section in which everyone is absolutely essential," explains Puig. "This small-group format helped us a great deal so that everyone would take on this responsibility and then we could apply it to the whole." And so that the singers could conserve their energy, they prepared some phrases in a lower octave, that is, lower than they appear in the score, and when they had thoroughly mastered them, they would move them to a higher octave. In addition to the three concerts, they held a rehearsal with Dudamel at the end of November.

Now Puig is focusing primarily on the singers' "flexibility," rehearsing different versions, while they wait for Dudamel to reveal his interpretation. "It will be special because it's the first time he's performing the Solemn Mass“Dudamel has performed all of Beethoven’s works except this one, and he explained to us that he had listened to it since he was very young, but had never felt ready to tackle it and, therefore, chose it to bid farewell to his long tenure with the Los Angeles Philharmonic,” says Puig. “It is so special to him and he experiences it very intensely,” he emphasizes.

The rehearsal continues, and the Creed This marks another milestone in the first part of the work. Everything flows smoothly, and after a few more clarifications, a well-deserved fifteen-minute break arrives. The pace in Los Angeles will be even faster. "We have the time we have, and we must make the most of it: we'll do one rehearsal with Dudamel on piano, so he can give us his instructions; two with the orchestra; and then the dress rehearsal," says the conductor. It will undoubtedly be a memorable concert. "During the rehearsal, Dudamel told us that Beethoven is like fireworks, and during the rehearsal, you could see him moving as if he himself were fireworks, very expressive, open, and generous," Serrallonga recalls.