Bucks County Choral Society's 37th season opens in dramatic fashion with the Philadelphia area premier of Rodion Shchedrin's
The Sealed Angel. Joining BCCS for this drama for chorus, dancers, flute and soloists is choreographer and dancer Tim Early, co-director of Philadelphia-based Opus 1 Contemporary Dance Company, and dancer Carrie Ellmore-Tallitsch of the Martha Graham Dance Company. Also joining BCCS for
The Sealed Angel is flutist Mimi Stillman, described by the Washington Post as "a magically gifted flutist, a breath of fresh air" and outstanding treble soloist Alex Bessen of the Keystone Boys Choir. The concert will be presented on Sunday, November 1 at 4:00pm at Trinity Lutheran Church, 1000 W. Main Street in Lansdale, PA.
Shchedrin completed
The Sealed Angel in 1988 as part of the millennium celebrations of Russia’s conversion to Christianity, although he most likely originally intended to disguise its religious nature and even delay its first performance in compliance with the then militant atheism of the communist authorities. With the fall of the Soviet Union just a few short years later, Shchedrin’s achievement was realized, and the work was awarded the Russian State Prize in 1992 by President Boris Yeltsin. Since then, the work has enjoyed ever-broadening success and recognition across the globe; and as noted, the BCCS performance of
The Sealed Angel will be a Philadelphia area premiere.
The Sealed Angel is more than a profoundly moving live concert experience; it has also been described by performers, listeners and reviewers alike as an inspired work of the spirit, an embodiment of the Russian religious and folk traditions and political experience, a respectful melding of traditional Russian Orthodox liturgical music and harmonies with modern technique, and a work of great beauty and profundity.
"I first encountered
The Sealed Angel while attending a symposium last summer in Copenhagen," recalls BCCS Artistic Director, Tom Lloyd. "It was performed with dancers in a sculpture museum, with the composer in the front row of the audience, and it was simply one of the most moving performances I have ever attended. As soon as I got home, I ordered the music."
The Sealed Angel is believed to be based on a short story of the same name written in 1873 by Nikolai Leskov. The story is about an 18th century community of "Old Believers" that, in punishment for resisting the ongoing reforms of the mainstream Russian Orthodox Church, had their beloved icon of a shining angel confiscated and sealed with wax. The music written by Shchedrin is a group of nine anthems perhaps inspired by Leskov’s story, though with texts that are mostly liturgical in nature, and not drawn from the story. Performances with dancers such as that which BCCS will be presenting seem to take the work to a new and more personally spiritual level, portraying the human soul seeking an encounter with the Holy Spirit. "We are fortunate," explains Lloyd, "that the length of the work (a little over an hour) allows time at the beginning of the concert for a brief introduction including demonstrations by both the choir and dancers of the music and the choreography. This will allow our listeners to get the most out of this incredible piece."
Tickets and information are available online at www.buckschoral.org, or by phone at 215-598-6142.
