“On Friday and Sunday the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra performs Haydn’s ‘The Creation’ oratorio, Biblical text rendered with a dramatic score in Heinz Hall,” writes Jeremy Reynolds in Thursday’s (11/30) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “PSO music director Manfred Honeck will conduct the orchestra as well as the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh.” Opera and theater director Sam Helfrich is staging the work. “His first collaboration with the PSO occurred in 2011 and resulted in a controversial, sold-out staging of Handel’s ‘Messiah,’ reimagined as a commentary on U.S. immigration. He also staged Bach’s ‘St. John Passion’ with the PSO in 2016…. The upcoming production also features the vocal talents of soprano Rachele Gilmore, tenor Werner Gura and bass Alexander Elliot. Greg Emetaz, a New York City-based film designer, created video and visual imagery … Oratorios are typically unstaged, but Mr. Helfrich has crafted a classroom scenario in which the archangel Urier teaches a pair of younger angelic types (Gabriel and Raphael) about the joys of creation.… ‘Manfred [Honeck] is an amazing collaborator, I’ve enjoyed working with him every time I’ve been here,’ Mr. Helfrich said…. ‘These pieces are quite old, but they’re fresh and exciting with Manfred.’ ”
Posted November 30, 2017
