Estonian feature orchestra over chamber choir

By Sarah Bryan Miller

POST-DISPATCH CLASSICAL MUSIC CRITIC

11/09/08

If you were touring with one world-renowned, Grammy-winning chorus and one fine, but less famous orchestra, which would you choose to feature?

On Thursday night at the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica, conductor Tonu Kaljuste - who founded both groups, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra - showed he had a favorite child: He was definitely more interested in the instrumentalists than the singers.

It was a surprising emphasis, and not a happy one for those who came primarily to hear the chorus.

The orchestra performed two instrumentalist-only pieces.  The choir, which is noted for its a cappella work, did no stand-alone singing.  Because the singers were placed behind the players on the church steps, without risers, the instrumentalists dominated the sounds as well as the sights of the performance, too often covering the chorus.

The program was oddly constructed, too.  The first half was all by the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt: one orchestral work, one for male chorus and orchestra, one for female chorus and orchestra, and, finally, one that involved all the forces.

The music was all well-done, and it was great to have the opportunity to hear these unusual works.  the problem is that Part's music is in a mystical-minimalist style that doesn't offer much variety; there was too much sameness to it.

Pärt at his best was represented in his 2004 "Da pacem Domine (Give peace, Lord)," a simple, slow-moving but deep work, beautifully done.  That's as it should be; this won them the Grammy last year.  It would have shown better paired with music that provided a greater contrast.

The second half opened with another Estonian composer, Erkki-Sven Tüür's "Action, Passion, Illusion," for string orchestra.  A "deconstruction of a baroque theme," it was a busy, fascinating piece with surprising Twists and resolutions, brilliantly performed.

Antonio Vivaldi's "Beatus Vir" was a surprising choice for a big finale, and its segmented nature did not show the group at its best.  The blend within sections was imperfect, with individual voices sticking out too frequently for a group of this stature.

It is to be hoped that Cathedral Concerts will bring them back, but with a stronger, more balanced program.

Jitro, Czech Girls Choir Review

Czech girls choir offers beautiful singing

By Sarah Bryan Miller

POST DISPATCH CLASSICAL MUSIC CRITIC

10/30/08

Most of the touring choirs brought to St. Louis by Cathedral Concerts are either all boy (various English groups, the Vienna Choir Boys) or mixed adult. Tuesday, however, was girls night at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis.

The 25 young women of Jitro - the name means "Daybreak" in Czech - are the elite touring arm of a 500-child organization based in the Bohemian town of Hradec Kralove in the Czech Republic. Jitro has an impressive résumé of performances sung and awards won around the world. Based on this performance, they and their director, Jiri Skopal, have earned them.

The girls of Jitro sing with pure voices, remarkable clarity and a near-flawless blend. They're superb musicians.

Their  more conventional pieces, which ranged from an anonymous chant to a Pergolesi "Stabat Mater," were lovely. They nailed the tricky "Jaakobin pojat" (no translation provided). Written by Finnish composer Pekka Kostiainen (b. 1944), it was a wild ride, with unusual vocal and physical effects.

Most of the best moments came in the program's second half. The girls seemed to be energized and having real fun. And well they might, with music to sing like "Liturgicke zpevy" by Petr Eben (1929-2007), a brief, zippy Latin Mass setting with a definite Middle European flair.

An abbreviated version of Benjamin Britten's "A Ceremony of Carols" began with a shockingly idiosyncratic reading of the opening "Hodie;" then Skopal and the choir settled into a fine reading. The unnamed soloist in "Balulalow" did a beautiful job. It would have been nice to hear the entire work.

There was a pre-concert performance by choirs from three local Roman Catholic girls high schools: the Ursuline Academy Chorus, the St. Elizabeth Academy Singers and the Frontenac Voices of St. Joseph's Academy. They stayed to hear Jitro; then all four choirs merged for the concert's finale.

Unfortunately, the piece chosen for that finale, Oscar Peterson's "hymn to Freedom," is a piece of sentimental rubbish, and unworthy of such fine young musicians. It was pleasant to have the massed choirs in the chancel; it would have been better to hear them in a more worthwhile song. It would also have been helpful to have more translations in the program.

Choir of King's College, Cambridge REVIEW

The Choir of King's College, Cambridge, England

Stephen Cleobury - Director of Music

Peter Stevens and Tom Kimber - Organ Scholars

Friday, April 4, 2008

This review is By Philip Barnes, Artistic Director of the Saint Louis Chamber Chorus.

You have to hand it to Stephen Cleobury, he demonstrates the best of musical taste in his repertoire, panders little to the audience, and knows how to train young boys (a.k.a. 'trebles') to sing with accuracy and expression.  It cannot be easy to direct such a renowned ensemble for whom expectations are always high, let alone one whose recordings are a fixed benchmark, even those from the 1950's.  In fact, a comparison of those discs made with Boris Ord, and subsequent ones with his successors David Willcocks and Philip Ledger, is instructive for how this choir has grown.  If Willcocks fashioned a seamless blend, and Ledger added some vitality, Cleobury has maintained elements of these but stretched the choir in terms of repertoire.  As he remarked to the St. Louis audience, contemporary music has always been a passion, and the King's tradition of commissioning a new piece each year for the Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols has enabled him to maintain an element of freshness that contributes to that service's enduring appeal.

The most recent of these commissions is "Now Comes the Dawn" by the Australian Brett Dean (b. 1961), who spent many years in the viola section of the Berlin Philharmonic before concentrating on composition.  Its structure is basically AABA, though the recapitulation is embellished with a fragmentary solo from a treble.  The main music idea sees a unison note that gradually acquires notes clustered around it, and the idea of an unfolding chord suits the verse "Stardust and vaporous light,/the mist of worlds born."  The climax, in the B section, describes the birth of Christ, and here the music was more discordant than ecstatic.  Frankly, the lyrics, by the 19th century American writer Richard Watson Gilder, would merit further musical treatment, but all credit to Dean for finding such a fine text.

This recent work provided a bridge between two French works, the former an organ solo and the latter a cycle of four Christmas motets by Francis Poulenc.  These focus on various aspects of the Adoration, from the beasts to the shepherds to the wise men, and culminate in a paean for Christmas Day, "Hodie Christus Natus Est."  These are among the most familiar works by Poulenc, and they've been heard in St. Louis sung by many different choirs, from the Symphony Chorus to various chamber and church choirs.  Cleobury's reading was direct and no nonsense, the pitch remained true throughout, other than an odd moment in the third "Videntes Stellam".  The soft passages were soft, and the loud loud.  The awkward vocal lines (that Poulenc was largely self-taught in formal harmony is apparent to any singer) were tossed off with nary a care.  The other French piece, a movement from Olivier Messiaen's "Meditations sur le Mystere de la Sainte Trinite," was nimbly played by Tom Kimber, who made good use of the different registers the mighty Kilgen organ has to offer.  Thanks to the interpolation of plainchant with bird song, there were many contrasts in Messiaen's writing.  Perhaps too many, since this was too long a solo to be heard so early in the programme.

Nonetheless, initially it was something of a relief, following the opening set of early 17th century anthems from England that were more unsettling than satisfying.  The first music heard at any performance often sets the tone for the whole programme, so it was disconcerting to hear three works that should be the backbone of the King's repertoire sung untidily.  In a choir of this caliber there are no bad singers, but one does not expect individual voices to be so discernible.  That failing, and Cleobury's perfunctory tempi, suggested that the choir had not effectively rehearsed and adapted to such an unusually capacious acoustic as the basilica offers. The speed of "Alleluia! I Heard A Voice" would be fine for composer Thomas Weelkes' cathedral at Chichester; likewise Thomas Tomkins' "When David Heard" at Worcester, and Orlando Gibbons' "O Clap Your Hands" in King's chapel itself.  But this was none of these; this was the St. Louis Cathedral-Basilica, and if the result was a muddle by the tenth row from the front, heaven knows what it must have sounded like further back!

Other selections fared better in the challenging resonance.  The Poulenc motets were effective, as was Bach's double choir motet, "Komm, Jesu, Komm," whose use of rests and pauses allowed the music to 'breathe' in the space.  This is quite a challenge for such young voices, but they accomplished it with aplomb.  Cleobury drew adequate phrasing though one suspects he could do more with the more mature voices of the BBC Singers, the other British choir that he has conducted regularly.  Their timbre was what was needed for the final work on the programme, "Valiant-For-Truth," a setting from Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" that Vaughan Williams composed for a choir of men and women in London's dark days of 1941.  Cleobury wisely reassigned the alto recitatives to the trebles; male altos can sound ghastly on these exposed (and high) passages.  However, this piece did not quite realize its magical possibilities, though the crescendo for the repeated phrase "and all the trumpets sounded for him" was stepped admirably.

Before the Vaughan Williams were the finest three pieces on the programme; this was what we had come to hear, and there could have been no disappointment in the works by Bruhns, Berkeley and Howells.  First, Peter Stevens provided an object lesson in articulation and registration with his playing of Nicolaus Bruhns' "Praeludium in E" - it is a somber but grand work, and complemented the acoustic instead of combating it.  Then, by way of delightful contrast, the exquisite, almost Bluesy "The Lord Is My Shepherd" by Lennox Berkeley, which showed that the organ could accompany the choir effectively (it had not done so in the earlier works by Weelkes and Gibbons).  Cleobury reminisced that Berkeley's two sons had been in the Westminster Cathedral Choir when he was Master of the Choristers there, prior to his Cambridge appointment.  This work was written for the intimate space of Chichester Cathedral, however, yet it worked quite will in the basilica, and featured one of those superb treble soloists synonymous with King's.  Finally, the highlight of the evening, the glorious and enthralling motet dedicated "to the honoured memory of John Fitzgerald Kennedy" by English composer, Herbert Howells.  This is one of his greatest works, commissioned for an American-Canadian service of remembrance in Washington, D.C., just months after J.F.K.'s assassination.  The words, "Take Him, Earth, For Cherishing," Howells had used as a literary preface to his other masterpiece, the "Hymnus Paradisi" of 1950, written in memory of his only son, Michael.  Once again, when he exalted and lamented the dead president, he wrote from the heart and created an achingly beautiful piece.

The harmonic language of the Kennedy motet is quintessentially English, and it is therefore an ideal choice for a choir such as King's; its American inspiration only strengthened its appropriateness to Friday's programme.  The text is taken from Prudentius (348 - 413 A.D.), in a remarkable translation of medieval Latin lyrics published in 1929 by Helen Waddell.  The same collection included a tenth century poem, "Angelic Host," and this spurred Howells' contemporary, Michael Tippett, to track down the Latin original for a commission he received from Canterbury Cathedral in 1943.  This piece, "Plebs Angelica," scored for double choir, was sung as an encore at Friday night's performance, and provided an austere and understated conclusion to an evening of contrast and competence.  At their best, the performers from King's College had shown their true colours, but the challenges of the building will probably have left them remembering St. Louis as much as we will remember their musicianship and the magnificent Howells.

State Symphony Orchestra of Mexico

Add your comments about the State Symphony Orchestra of Mexico concert on Friday, March 7, 2008.

Brass Spectacular Review

Brass Spectacular solid, but not flashy

By Sarah Bryan Miller

POST DISPATCH CLASSICAL MUSIC CRITIC

1/24/08

There was plenty of impressive playing in the "Brass Spectacular" at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis on Tuesday night - although little of the programming really lent itself to being called "spectacular," in the sense of flashy playing.

But the sold-out audience of about 1,300 seemed to appreciate the artistry on display. Members of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra brass section and regular extra players joined forces with three hard-working percussionists, organist Robert Lehman and the massed teenagers of the Missouri All-State Brass to make some big sounds.

The latest edition of the "Brass Spectacular," the admirable joint effort of Cathedral Concerts and Symphony principal trumpet Susan Slaughter, benefited from the clear, informative conducting and clear, informative spoken program note of the guest conductor, Capt. Michelle Rakers of the U.S. Marine Corps. Clad in black civvies, Rakers was a strong presence on the podium, and the eight-second reverberation of the chilly, breezy Cathedral Basilica didn't seem to faze her in the least.

The concert started with occasionally muddy playing in a transcription of Walton's "Crown Imperial" Coronation March. The high point of the first half was Alan Hovhaness' "Prayer of St. Gregory," which takes the haunting tonal world of Eastern Orthodox liturgical music and transforms it for horn, trumpet and organ. Tod Bowermaster, Slaughter (up in the eastern gallery) and Lehman were superb soloists.

Most of the memorable programming came in the second half, starting with Marcel Dupré's "Poème Héroique (Heroic Poem)," for brass choir and  organ. Three transcriptions of Brahms motets worked well, as did two intriguing movements from "Fanfares, Marches, Hymns & Finale for Brass and Percussion," by Bruce Broughton, who has built a career in film and TV music. Rakers saved the best for last: Richard Strauss' "Feierlicher Einzug (Festival Procession)." It opens with echoes of Wagner's "Götterdämmerung" and traces of Stauss' "Also sprach Zarathustra," and develops impressively from there. It wasn't all quite in tune at the beginning but pulled together quickly for a satisfying end to the program.

John Romeri, executive and artistic director of Cathedral Concerts and director of music for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. St. Louis, had back surgery last week, but was there to greet and introduce the concert. Lehman was an excellent not-quite-last-minute substitute.

Christmas at the Cathedral

Add your comments about the Christmas at the Cathedral Concert performance on Sunday, December 9, 2007.

Chanticleer Christmas REVIEW

This review is by Dr. A. Dennis Sparger, music director and conductor of The Bach Society of St. Louis.

A Chanticleer Christmas was presented at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis on Friday, November 30, at 8:00 p.m. The concert was presented as part of the 15th season of the Saint Louis Cathedral Concerts.

With the exception of the far sides of the immense interior, the spacious Basilica was filled for this performance. And it was obvious from the smiling faces and excited conversations that the audience had come with clear expectations. Without a doubt, the performance more than met those expectations.

We have heard Chanticleer on many occasions over the past few decades, and the group has never failed to impress. Of course, they shouldn't. As the only truly professional choir in this country - to the best of my knowledge - Chanticleer sets a standard above any reasonable benchmark for choral performance. According to one of its members, each of the 12 singers is paid a full-time salary with only two weeks off during the year. When the ensemble is not on tour - 25 weeks each season - it is based in San Francisco where they rehearse four hours, five days each week. (Most choirs are lucky to get 2 1/2 hours per week!)

Chanticleer was formed in 1978, when founder Louis Botto, a graduate student in musicology, organized an ensemble of nine men to perform the medieval and Renaissance music so neglected in our culture. Joseph Jennings succeeded him as music director in 1984. By 1991, Chanticleer had grown to its present size of 12 members. Through its extensive touring and recordings, Chanticleer is recognized by music lovers around the world.

The programming for the St. Louis concert in November included two dozen selections, ranging from a Gregorian chant to medieval and Renaissance music to recent works written expressly for Chanticleer. The evening offered both the unfamiliar and traditional favorites, although the holiday classics were heard in fresh settings. With only a few exceptions, the repertoire was perfectly suited to the performers, and the variety made for an immensely enjoyable evening.

Following a welcome by Dr. John Romeri, director of the Cathedral Concert Series, the members of Chanticleer entered the darkened space by candlelight, singing the plainsong "Alleluia. The rod of Jesse has blossomed: a virgin hath brought forth God and man." The flawless intonation in their singing produced an accompaniment to the otherwise unison chant, as certain tones and overtones were softly sustained by the reverberant acoustics in this magnificent space. The singers proceeded directly into a clausula-motet from the 13th century,

"From the seed of Abraham, . . .bring forth, O Lord, the salvation of man." Composed by Perotin, the most famous member of the Notre Dame school, "Ex semine Abrahae" demonstrated one of the earliest forms of polyphony, with two ornamental voice parts woven around the original chant placed in the lowest voice in long tones.

A benefit to having only 12 voices in an ensemble is the ease and speed of changing positions. While this provides the audience with something different to see, it also serves to reinforce the architecture of the music. Opposing forces of 4 versus 8 voices were heard in Michael Praetorius' setting of "In dulci jubilo" (commonly sung as "Good Christian men, rejoice"). Its joyful, uplifting spirit not only engaged the listener with something familiar, but provided the perfect bridge from Perotin to Josquin, whose motet "Inviolata, integra et casta es Maria" (which extolled the virtues of Mary) was greatly appreciated by the large audience. With the exception of a prominent tenor voice in a few passages, the blend and intonation were impeccable.

There are so many beautiful pieces of music in the choral repertory that it is quite easy to string many of them together to create a beautiful program that, alas, ends up by being rather boring. But Mr. Jennings offered a well-researched and thoughtful program that both encompassed a large breadth of music history and appealed to a broad section of listeners, from the aficionado to the acquiescing person dragged in by a spouse or friend.

Three contrasting pieces by composers from Spain, Portugal and Mexico sounded much newer than their 16th and 17th century dates suggested. In fact, the thicker textures, addition of percussion instruments, and effective use of portamento (vocal slides) in the selections by Zespedes gave it an almost "pop"flavor. The audience response, predictably, was most enthusiastic. And with this preparation, the listeners could easily be led to the more demanding 20th century composer Arvo Part. His "O shoot of Isaiah's line" from his Seven Magnificat Antiphons, composed in 1988, provided a stark contrast and required careful listening.

At the conclusion of the Part, the singers quietly moved to a new position and began "O Root of Jesse" by Miskinis, a warmly expressive piece. Another quiet change led to "The rod of Jesse has blossomed" (Virga Jesse floruit) by Anton Bruckner. And while the performance lent a richer tone from the singers, Bruckner would benefit from larger forces. The first half came to a stunning close with a setting of Praetorius' "Es ist ein Ros entsprungen" by Jan Sandstrom. A 20th century version of the chorale-prelude, the piece featured a solo quartet singing the original tune as a cantus firmus while the rest of the singers provided an incredible halo of sound, creating a truly haunting effect.

The second half opened with the "Ave Maria" by Franz Biebl, already a "war-horse," and for good reason. The singing was flawless. A lullaby by Kenneth Leighton, a lovely work, featured a well-sung soprano solo. A collection of three carols blended traditional and pop styles, and must have been placed at this point in the program to increase CD sales; who wouldn't enjoy hearing these again! The "Carol of the Bells" bordered on being "over-arranged", but I admit it was fun to hear once.

"Beautiful Star of Bethlehem" by Boyce/Pace, a white gospel hymn, was performed in authentic style, including a thinner and nasal tone quality. Although I grew up hearing a lot of this music and appreciated the authenticity the performers brought to its interpretation, it appeared that at least some in the audience considered it humorous. A modulation at the final verse just barely arrived in the new key. Four pieces in a Christmas Medley reaffirmed the group's pre-eminence in choral performance. The closing set of spirituals and gospels, sung from memory, were filled with energy and style. My ear would have been better pleased without a few of the highest tones: because one can sing that high, does not mean one should.

After the 3rd ovation from the enthusiastic audience of nearly 1300, the singers of Chanticleer returned to sing a simple, four-part setting of "Silent Night". The second verse expanded harmonically, with eight parts embracing luscious 9th and 11th chords.

We hear a lot of excellent choral performances in St. Louis, but it was a thrill to hear one of the finest ensembles in the world. Chanticleer may have a stack of outstanding CDs, but nothing compares to hearing them in live performance.