Good
and evil in French Revolution:
Seminarians debut professor’s play
By Lou Baldwin
Special to The CS&T
Heaven, hell, purgatory, earth. All figure in “Deliver Us From the
Evil One: The Trials and Tribulations of the Priest of Ars Jean-MarieVianney,”
a three-act play written by Atherton C. Lowry, chair and professor of
philosophy at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.
The play’s world premiere was presented by the students of St. Charles
Seminary this past weekend.
As noted by Msgr. Joseph Prior, rector of St. Charles, St. John Vianney
(Jean Marie) is the patron saint of parish priests. “As we watched
the play we were reminded so vividly of what we are about here,”
he said.
Lowry’s words were made flesh through the direction of Joseph Grabowski
(Theology I) who found the work timely for priests, seminarians, and all
Catholics.
“Dr. Lowry has highlighted some of the greatest aspects of our faith,”
Grabowski said. “I was humbled and thrilled to bring it to the stage
for him.”
The play opens in 1794, during the Reign of Terror in France, as George-Jacques
Danton, a principle architect of the French Revolution, is about to be
guillotined. Danton recently returned to the Christian faith and has tried
to end the horrors he helped create.
In Hell, Satan and his hench-devils are gloating over the revolution because
of the apparent triumph of evil in France. The only thing standing the
in way of their complete success is a an 8-year-old, child, Jean-Marie
(John) Vianney. They realize that unless they can corrupt him, he is destined
to return France to the way of God.
Danton, meanwhile, is consigned to purgatory for his sins, and for the
rest of the play he serves the role of a Greek chorus, filling the gaps
between the various periods of St. John’s life.
As a young man, the saint perseveres to his ordination despite some academic
difficulties. As history records, he becomes Curé d’Ars,
and God’s champion in France, despite constant harassment and temptation
by Satan. The play ends with his death and finally, canonization, after
which he leads Danton from purgatory to heaven.
“The whole theme is one long prayer to St. John Vianney, and ultimately
for the greater honor and glory of God,” said lead actor David Friel
(I Theology). “It was for his honor and as a tribute to Dr. Lowry,
who has done so much for us, that we did this.
“I’ve spent time these past three months reading about St.
John Vianney, praying to him and asking his permission to do this role
and do it well,” Friel said.
In the role of Satan, Steven Walker (Pre-Theology) said he kept in mind
that Satan was once one of the greatest angels.
“He rejects God and everything about Him, tells himself he is the
lord of the earth and lord of the underworld, but of course he’s
not,” Walker said.
Zakary Spitz, (I Theology ) who took the role of Danton, presented his
stay in purgatory as a period of healing, not punishment. “[Danton]
is definitely a complex character and starts out very angry and fierce,”
Spitz said. “Through his purgation, he comes closer to Christ until
Jean Marie takes him to Heaven.”
Lou Baldwin is a member of St. Leo Parish and a freelance writer.
Voices
lifted on high — as Beethoven imagined them
By NADIA MARIA SMITH
CS&T Staff Writer
Imagine being in the Vienna concert hall the night Ludwig van Beethoven
debuted his anticipated masterpiece, the Ninth Symphony.
It is rare to hear the famous piece performed in the manner it was that
night before an overwhelmed and thrilled crowd — which gave Beethoven
five standing ovations. But music aficionados in Philadelphia will have
that opportunity.
At 8 p.m. on Friday, April 25, Philadelphia’s Vox Ama Deus Ensemble
will replicate the Ninth Symphony’s premiere performance at the
Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater in Center City.
“This performance will certainly sound different from that grandiose
sound of modern symphonic orchestras, which tend to romanticize this work,
and to which our audience ears are so accustomed today,” said the
ensemble’s artistic director and conductor, Valentin Radu, who is
a member of St. Katharine of Siena Parish in Wayne.
The Ninth Symphony is considered one of Beethoven’s greatest masterpieces
and is hailed as one of the most important works of Western classical
music. The music from the Fourth Movement of the symphony is well known
as the “Ode to Joy,” a poem by Friedrich Schiller that Beethoven
wrote into the last movement of the piece.
“For me the Ninth represents one of the most amazing combinations
of musical achievement and a very strong humanitarian message of peace,”
said Radu. He has studied the symphony with various teachers in Europe
and at the Juilliard School of Arts but has never had a chance to conduct
it until now.
“The antagonism of the orchestral parts reflects the very different
moods of the human being, from happiness and joy to the introspection,
thoughtfulness and humble meditation,” Radu said. “All
the themes are so singable, being inspired by the German folk songs. I
am fascinated at how some of the themes are passed from violins to horns
to flutes, just like vocal parts intersperse in the chorus. The entrance
of the human voices in ‘Ode to Joy’ is a natural conclusion
of what instruments have already narrated.”
It is perhaps both amazing and poignant that by the time Beethoven completed
this final work, he had gone deaf and never heard what he created.
The Vox performance will feature soloists Tatyana Galitskaya singing soprano,
Tatyana Rashkovsky singing mezzo-soprano, Ken Garner singing tenor and
Ed Bara singing bass.
Also on the program is one of Beethoven’s rarely performed works:
“Die Ruinen von Athen” (The Ruins of Athens). It was written
in 1811 to accompany the play of the same name by August von Kitzebue.
It’s best known number, “The Turkish March,” is often
performed as an independent concert piece.
The Vox performance on April 25 will be recorded live for a commercial
release on the Lyrichord label.
CS&T staff writer Nadia Maria Smith may be reached at npozo@adphila.org
or (215) 965-4614.
Philadelphia’s Vox
Ama Deus Ensemble performs Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
When: 8 p.m. Friday, April 25
Where: The Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater, South Broad and Spruce
streets
Tickets: $20-50
Purchase tickets through the Kimmel Center Box Office by calling (215)
893-1999 or online at: www.kimmelcenter.org or: www.voxamadeus.org.
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