Thursday, June 8, 2017

How relevant is a classical work like "Belshazzar's Feast"?

On Sunday, the Buffalo Philharmonic and its chorus (JoAnn Faletta conducting) performed Belshazzar's Feast, by William Walton. Based on the Old Testament story about Belshazzar, the son of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, this was composed in the 1930s. The story is of a king whose hubris and vainglory is such that he ignores biblical injunctions. After a wild feast and night of revelry, he is killed in his sleep (I'm not sure by what).

The chorus sounded strong (although they were sometimes overwhelmed by the huge orchestra), and Kevin Deas, the baritone soloist, projected the verses with a tremendous voice. It's a short piece, only 35 minutes, and the audience gave a good round of applause. Yet, the work didn't feel that compelling to me as a composition. The old bible language had an old-fashioned, voice-of-God tone that doesn't speak to me. It sounds morally right that heedless cruelty and wild revelry should exact a just punishment. Yet, as modern people we are accustomed to frequently seeing violent images and cruelty on television and in our media. Terrorist attacks, war, crime, greed, avarice, viciousness of all types -- it's in our faces all the time. But rarely do we see justice done in a succinct, satisfying way. Therefore, simply being told (or sung to) that Belshazzar met his just end one night just doesn't move me.

On the other hand, the piece that opened the concert, An Orkney Wedding, With Sunrise, by Maxwell Davies, was beautiful and emotional. After the dancing and drunken goings on of the guests celebrating the wedding, the sudden appearance of the bagpiper marching down the aisle of Kleinhans and playing the pipes -- the sunrise -- was wonderful and moving.