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concert review: Chora Nova
May. 29th, 2011 10:10 pmAs soon as our drive took us into Oakland, it started raining pitilessly. But we persevered, making it up to Berkeley to the really good Middle Eastern restaurant and then down to the Congregational Church for, slightly incongruously, a concert of 18th-century Italian settings of Latin psalm texts. These were by Vivaldi, whom you've surely heard of, Pergolesi, whom you've probably heard of, and Galuppi, whom you might not have heard of. Ironically, the Vivaldi - one of several settings of Dixit Dominus, RV 807 - was long misattributed to Galuppi, having been one of several works appropriated to his name by a copyist who was running short of genuine Galuppi to fill a commission.
How anybody ever thought this work wasn't by Vivaldi is what mystifies me about this. It sounds exactly like everything else by him you've ever heard, and quite different from the genuine Galuppi, Nisi Dominus, a comparatively drab work with a tendency to mix late Baroque shivering with incipient Sturm und Drang, and whose main resemblance to Vivaldi was a lot of artful part setting for the chorus. Judging by sheer beauty of the music, Pergolesi's Confitebor tibi Domine was the finest piece on the program, but his vocal lines showed off only the sopranos, leaving the other parts as inconspicuous supporting pillars. Galuppi was better at blending and showing off the sopranos and altos; Vivaldi gave good work to the men as well. The chorus had a clear, smooth, plain sound that was most attractive.
And there were soloists. Jennifer Paulino, in a vivid red dress, had a vivid low soprano voice, startlingly smooth and buttery, weak in the bottom range unfortunately, but rounded, expressive, and absolutely even further up. The second soprano, Michele Byrd, has more of a "character" voice, but she was equally skilled in using it, and it made a nice contrast with Paulino. Tenor Brian Thorsett didn't get to do much, and at one point conductor Paul Flight turned around and gave us a countertenor solo which was, um. Are we sure he's a countertenor and not a falsetto?
Small orchestra - small enough that when one violinist broke his string, the show had to wait for him to change it instead of carrying on without him for a bit - a little overbalanced for the chorus, fine with the soloists, and mostly excellent playing.
Elegant Italian baroque score, soprano duet intertwining, chorus behind them, orchestra below - the sound was as sheerly beautiful as music gets. I wanted to just bathe my ears in it. So very glad we went.
How anybody ever thought this work wasn't by Vivaldi is what mystifies me about this. It sounds exactly like everything else by him you've ever heard, and quite different from the genuine Galuppi, Nisi Dominus, a comparatively drab work with a tendency to mix late Baroque shivering with incipient Sturm und Drang, and whose main resemblance to Vivaldi was a lot of artful part setting for the chorus. Judging by sheer beauty of the music, Pergolesi's Confitebor tibi Domine was the finest piece on the program, but his vocal lines showed off only the sopranos, leaving the other parts as inconspicuous supporting pillars. Galuppi was better at blending and showing off the sopranos and altos; Vivaldi gave good work to the men as well. The chorus had a clear, smooth, plain sound that was most attractive.
And there were soloists. Jennifer Paulino, in a vivid red dress, had a vivid low soprano voice, startlingly smooth and buttery, weak in the bottom range unfortunately, but rounded, expressive, and absolutely even further up. The second soprano, Michele Byrd, has more of a "character" voice, but she was equally skilled in using it, and it made a nice contrast with Paulino. Tenor Brian Thorsett didn't get to do much, and at one point conductor Paul Flight turned around and gave us a countertenor solo which was, um. Are we sure he's a countertenor and not a falsetto?
Small orchestra - small enough that when one violinist broke his string, the show had to wait for him to change it instead of carrying on without him for a bit - a little overbalanced for the chorus, fine with the soloists, and mostly excellent playing.
Elegant Italian baroque score, soprano duet intertwining, chorus behind them, orchestra below - the sound was as sheerly beautiful as music gets. I wanted to just bathe my ears in it. So very glad we went.
