Poe’s words meld well with music

Things were dark at The National last night. Very dark.

Of course, when you base an entire program on Richmond's favorite poet, writer and teller of terror tales -- Edgar Allan Poe -- that is to be expected.

But to be honest, the talents who came together to continue the bicentennial celebration of Poe's birth actually made it fun, for the most part.

Richmond Symphony Orchestra associate conductor Erin Freeman put together a program with instrumentalists, the RSO Chorus -- of which she is full-time conductor -- and three members of the Richmond Shakespeare company. There was something for everyone.

It had to be an artistic challenge to meld Poe's words, which range from earnest love poems to macabre tales of death, with dark Gregorian chants as well as upbeat classical tunes.

For a man who suffered many heartaches and disappointments, Poe's works also can be stirring and exciting. Most who read "Annabel Lee" or any of Poe's works lauding love and life, as well as death, can't help but marvel at his artistic outpourings.

Initially Richmond Shakespeare artistic director Grant Mudge melded "The Raven" with the orchestra's playing of a somber "Dies Irae" Gregorian chant and the mood was set. The chorus was clear and not overpowering.

This led into the second piece of the evening, which was a reading of "The Masque of the Red Death," about a gruesome plague that kills its victims in little time.

Shirley Kagan from Richmond Shakespeare read Poe's accounting as the orchestra played David Baker's "Fantasy on Themes From the Masque of the Red Death," but even though Kagan spoke with a microphone the musicians frequently overpowered her.

Kagan had a powerful reading and commanded the piece with her gestures, but half her words could not be understood, through no fault of hers.

The evening continued with Edvard Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" and ended appropriately with Camille Saint-Saën's "Dance Macabre."

Somewhere, Poe must be watching with unrelenting pleasure that his writings can fuse such a program in one of the cities that he once called home.

Contact Walt Amacker at (804) 649-6247 or .