Chicago Classical Review

Given the present state of affairs in the Middle East, it may be difficult to imagine a period when the region’s inhabitants lived mostly in harmony with each other. 

Apollo’s Fire program “O Jerusalem! Crossroads of Three Faiths,” heard Saturday night at the KAM Isaiah Israel Congregation in Hyde Park, offered a musical reminder that a greater sense of coexistence once prevailed in and around the Holy City.

Curated and conducted by the indefatigable Apollo’s Fire music director Jeannette Sorrell, “O Jerusalem!” offered a tour of the ancient city’s four quarters—Jewish, Arab, Christian, and Armenian—vividly capturing the atmosphere of cultural cross-pollination from a four-century stretch of relative peace (approximately 1300-1700).

Soloist Jeffrey Strauss was announced as recovering from illness, but one heard little limitation in the baritone’s pleading Sephardic incantation which opened the concert. He was joined by surging gestures from the full chorus and highlighted with piquant slides from violinists Alan Choo and Emi Tanabe. 

Vocalist and recorder artist Daphna Mor grew up in Tel Aviv, and shared stories of her family experience there before offering a coquettish Ladino folksong of a mother trying to marry off her defiant daughter to a suitable husband (“Ija Mia”). Mor went on to make stylish contributions on the ney, recorder, and shawm throughout the night. Tina Bergmann brought hypnotic poetry to the Sephardic traditional “La Rosa enflorese” (The rose blooms) on the hammered dulcimer.

Soprano Sophia Burgos lofted the sultry melismas of a Sephardic lullaby, effortlessly shifting between her throaty low register and delicate high tessitura, and was spirited in the company procession (“Santa Maria, Strela do Dia”) that closed the first half. Soprano Lucine Musaelian stepped out from the chorus to provide an evening highlight accompanying herself on viola da gamba in the Armenian chant “Havun-Havun,” singing with gravitas and glowing tone to mesmerizing effect.

Tenor Jacob Perry and baritone Edward Vogel, both Apollo’s Fire stalwarts, were in fine form. Perry’s sweet, flexible timbre was well suited to two selections from the Monteverdi Vespers of 1610, capturing the influence of Arab and Jewish chant. (Sorrell’s recording of the full Vespers with Apollo’s Fire was a Billboard Top 10 album, and Saturday’s sampling made one hope they bring the complete work to Chicago soon.) Vogel’s robust baritone was a grounding presence throughout the night, lending spiritual heft to the Hebrew prayer “Tzur mishelo akhalnu” (“The Lord our Rock”).

Chicagoan Ronnie Malley, an oud and Arabic music specialist, opened the second half with a traditional Muslim call to prayer from the KAM balcony. He related stories of his grandparents and his own Palestinian heritage by way of introducing “Longha Farahfaza” and “Dabke Palestino,” two ensemble numbers that captured the celebratory side of the Arab quarter. Malley’s solo contributions were swirlingly virtuosic in a heavy-metal-meets-oud vein.

Before the final number, Sorrell recounted the story of her own father’s teenage deportation to Auschwitz, followed by his subsequent rescue and emigration to America, ending the moving saga with the plea, “We all just need to treat each other with love.”

The evening closed with “La Komida la Manyana” (The Morning Meal), a lively Sephardic-Ladino folk song that found Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire in their trademark high spirits, literally dancing down the aisles. At such times, Apollo’s Fire can precariously walk a thin line between joie de vivre and theatrical shtick. But given the current tensions in the Middle East, a defiantly over-the-top celebration felt like welcome balm Saturday night.

The program will be repeated 5 p.m. Sunday at the Chicago Cultural Center. apollosfire.org

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