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The island premiere of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor will be presented Sunday in Castle Theater at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, with two choirs totaling 120 voices, a 42-piece chamber orchestra and four soloists.
Under the direction of conductor Robert E. Wills, the performance will feature the Maui Chamber Orchestra and the Maui Masterworks Choral joined by 60 members of the Finger Lakes Choral Festival from upstate New York.
While many are probably familiar with Mozart’s Requiem (featured in the Oscar-winning movie “Amadeus”), which was left unfinished upon his death, he also left an even more ambitious vocal work, the Mass in C minor.
Despite the fact that Mozart never finished the entire Mass, it has the title “Great” because it is considered to be one of his most masterful works for orchestra and chorus.
Composed in 1783, after a vow made by Mozart to his father to write a sacred piece if he was allowed to get married, the Mass reflects the influence of the baroque works of Bach and Handel. First performed in Salzburg in 1783, it was left not only unfinished but forgotten for over half a century.
“In the Mass, Mozart becomes a magician,” noted classical critic Steve Schwarz. “Every movement is conceived at a level both beyond and in essence, in terms not only of the sacred music of the day but also of Mozart’s previous output.”
The concert soloists include Audrey Luna, who is acclaimed as one of the world’s leading coloratura sopranos. A coloratura soprano specializes in music that is distinguished by agile runs, leaps and trills. Winning a Grammy award in 2014 for Best Opera Recording in “The Tempest” with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Luna has been widely praised.
Reviewing her performance in Offenbach’s “Tales of Hoffman,” The New York Times proclaimed, “The brilliant coloratura soprano Audrey Luna is sensational as Olympia, deftly dispatching passage-work and tossing off jet-propulsion high notes.”
New York Magazine praised, “She sings in the register of sprites, so high and soft as to float nearly out of the range of human hearing.”
While studying at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Luna discovered that she could sing the superhigh notes sopranos normally wouldn’t have in their range. Her stratospheric voice brought her to the attention of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, where she made her debut as “The Magic Flute’s” Queen of the Night during the 2010-11 season.
“When you sing soprano, you usually sing the famous high C,” Luna told Charleston, S.C.,’s The Post & Courier. “I’m a coloratura soprano. We sing up to an E sometimes. The Queen of the Night has to sing a half an octave higher than the high C in the soprano range. ‘The Magic Flute’ has some of the highest notes in opera. I add extra high notes as well.”
The other soprano in the concert is LaDonna Manternach, who is the chairwoman of the Music Department at Iowa’s Clarke University and a member of the Sisters of Charity Blessed Virgin Mary.
The tenor soloist is Jim Price, who played Jean Valjean in Maui Academy of Performing Arts’ popular production of “Les Miserables” in the summer of 2013. He just finished playing Count Gustav von Pottenstein in the Hong Kong premiere of Franz Lehar’s romantic operetta, “The Land of Smiles.” And the bass soloist is Eric Trumpowsky, who has performed with the Eastman School of Music Eastman-Rochester Chorus, among others.
Joining the Maui Chamber Orchestra for this special event are violist John Scanlon, whose movie and TV soundtrack credits include “The Simpsons,” “Star Trek,” “Titanic” and “The Lion King”; and cellist Richard Treat, who also played for “The Lion King,” as well as “Mission Impossible” and “Austin Powers.”
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Making a rare return to our island, the Society of Seven will play the MACC at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
“It’s the first time we will be doing a show in Maui for a long time, and we are eager to perform on the wonderful Castle Theater stage,” says founding member Tony Ruivivar.
“We are bringing sensational song stylist Lhey Bella as our special guest and the folks in Maui will have an opportunity to enjoy her fantastic vocals,” adds fellow founding member Bert Sagum. “She sounds like Whitney Houston and Billie Holiday rolled up into one.”
Born and raised in the Philippines, Bella made her Hawaii debut with the Society of Seven in October. She has been described as having a “soaring, searing and seductive voice that could melt both ice and butter.”
The Society of Seven group includes Hoku Low (bass, trumpet, vocals), Wayne Wakai (keyboards, alto sax, guitar, vocals), Roy Venturina (keyboards), Jun Estanislao (drums), Michael Laygo (lead singer) along with the two original members, Sagum (percussion, vocals) and Ruivivar (guitar, vocals).
Initially known as the Fabulous Echoes, formed by Ruivivar and Sagum in Hong Kong in the early 1960s, the group moved to the United States several years later and eventually settled in Hawaii, becoming the Society of Seven in 1968. They opened at the Outrigger Waikiki Hotel the following year.
As a producer, Ruivivar perfected a winning formula that included Broadway medleys, contemporary pop hits, American standards, celebrity impersonations, tightly synchronized choreography and cross-dressing comedy.
“The good thing about this whole group is everybody enjoys working with each other,” Ruivivar says. “We have a great time, and every time we come together, it’s let’s put on a great show. Everybody is in tune with each other and respectful of each other’s talent. We have fun performing. We enjoy ourselves and get a big kick out of it that people have a great time whether we make them laugh or cry or applaud.”
For more than four decades, the Society of Seven has enjoyed enduring success. In a career that has spanned Las Vegas showrooms and more than 30 years at the Outrigger Waikiki, the SOS has charmed audiences worldwide, sometimes performing with legends such as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Patti Page and Sammy Davis Jr.
Among its accolades, the group was voted the “Best Show in Waikiki” by the readers of Honolulu Magazine, and in 2007, the members received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts. Last year, they released the CD “Our Treasured Memories,” compiled from 40 years of performing.
“The band, including longtime members Hoku Low and Wayne Wakai, has worked hard on planning some stunning new material,” says Ruivivar. “You’ll be in for a treat. We’ll rock you, and delight you with Broadway showstoppers, top hits and comedy.”
Adds Sagum, “Lhey Bella, our fabulous guest star, and lead singer Michael Laygo will perform some chicken skin duets. We love coming home, so you can expect we’ll be having a blast on stage and poking fun at some of your favorite celebrities.”
* The Society of Seven will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the MACC’s Castle Theater. Tickets are $12, $35, $45 and $55 (plus applicable fees) and are available at the box office, by calling 242-7469 or by visiting www.mauiarts.org
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There are a couple of free opportunities this weekend to see some award-winning Hawaiian musicians. On Saturday, Raiatea Helm will perform at 1 p.m. after a noon set by Paula Fuga at the Queen Ka’ahumanu Center. And Grammy-winning slack-key guitarist Sonny Lim will play for free at the Hula Grill Music Series from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Sunday in Kaanapali. The acclaimed Big Island musician just returned from a Japan tour. Maui’s Benny Uyetake will also perform.
Following the Grateful Dead’s historic last concerts in Chicago and Santa Clara, the Maui Pranksters will present the fifth annual “The Days Between” show celebrating the life and music of Jerry Garcia and the Dead at 10 p.m. Saturday at Charley’s Restaurant & Saloon in Paia. Admission is $10 at the door.