The Louisville Chorus – 73rd Season Concert
Daniel Spurlock, Music Director
Special Guest: South Oldham 7th and 8th Grade Women’s Ensemble
Haley A. Reed, Director
Reviewed by Cristina Martin
Entire contents copyright © 2012 Cristina Martin. All rights reserved.
Notions of the Hereafter are probably as varied as are the minds that
contemplate it. If indeed some eternal reward awaits the virtuous, many would
agree that it must involve sublime beauty. Artists through the ages have
striven to re-create this ideal as they conceive of it, to give us just an inkling
on earth of what it’s like in heaven. If the afterlife includes cherubim and
seraphim who sing like the Louisville Chorus, I want to go there.
Billed as the “longest thriving, most frequently performing choral arts
agency in Kentuckiana and neighboring states,” the Louisville Chorus is a
venerable member of the city’s arts scene. Attendees at the most recent concert
of its 73rd season were treated to a well chosen variety of pieces: a mixture of classical, traditional ecclesiastical
and more contemporary arrangements. The breathtaking interior of St. Agnes
Catholic Church was a most appropriate setting, and yet music lovers of any
faith tradition were made to feel welcome in what was clearly a concert rather
than a religious service.
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| Composer Camille Saint-Saens. |
The big, balanced sound of the Chorus
from Saint-Saëns’ Christmas Oratorio
opened the evening, followed by the sweet, slow Cherubim Song (No. 7) by Dimitri Bortniansky, arranged by Peter
Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Director Daniel Spurlock seems to place special emphasis on
dynamic nuances, which makes all the difference in the world in the texture and
subtlety of the music.
After the hymn Ye Holy Angels
Bright – in which the chorus was accompanied by violinist Jack Griffin, who
shone particularly in the last stanza, and double-bassist Jacquelyn Kuhens – the
audience was treated to the gorgeous solo work of soprano Haley A. Reed in
excerpts from Handel’s Messiah. Her
lovely, pure voice was perfect for the recitatives and a delight later in the
evening as well when she sang a solo in Mozart’s Laudate Dominum from Vesperae
solennes de confessore, K. 339.
A definite highlight of the concert was the challenging a cappella Holy, Holy, Holy by Paul Satre. The
deep, low tones of the male voices at the beginning swelled and merged
gradually with the others, building to the top of a crescendo through
interesting chords and key changes. This was followed by a pleasing Bach piece,
Zion Hears the Watchmen Singing, and
by César Franck’s Panis Angelicus,
featuring tenor Bill Howell. Howell’s
voice was controlled and reverent, more restrained than in some other tenors’
renditions but agreeable nonetheless. He was similarly up to the task in his
recitatives from Franz Joseph Haydn’s The
Creation in the concert’s second half.
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| Composer Franz Josef Haydn. Portrait by Thomas Hardy, 1792. |
Soprano Reed is the director of the South Oldham 7th and 8th Grade
Women’s Ensemble, who joined the Louisville Chorus for Quiet Sea, by Jill Friedersdorf and Melissa Malvar-Keylock, and for
the Hallelujah, Amen from Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus right before
intermission. The young women sang beautifully and were every bit as
professional as their fellow musicians in the Chorus. What a refreshing and wonderful
example of artistic cooperation among the generations, and how inspiring for
all involved!
The second half of the concert opened with the hymn Holy God, We Praise Thy Name in a striking arrangement by
Louisville Chorus accompanist and mainstay Therese Davis. It takes
extraordinary musicianship as well as a special knack for accompaniment to do
the caliber of work Davis evidenced in the course of the evening, commanding
multiple keyboards and always complementing but never overshadowing the
vocalists. She brings her organic knowledge of the ensemble to bear in her
arrangement of this hymn, which came off quite successfully. The altos were a
bit loud at times, but the concluding Amen sequence was sublime.
Soprano Darlene Welch lent her well-heeled voice to the solo part in Hymns by Paul McKusker and David Maddux,
to impressive operatic effect. She, tenor Howell and bass Alexander Redden
formed a trio for The Heavens Are Telling
in Haydn’s Creation. Redden’s rich,
warm voice, to which we were first introduced in Judas Maccabaeus, was a pleasure to listen to. The memorable swells
of sound in Craig Courtney’s Sanctus
deserve mention as well, as does the appropriate majesty with which Bach’s Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light
was performed.
The South Oldham Women’s Ensemble joined the Chorus once again for the
final number of the evening, Prologue in
the Heavens Final Psalmody, from
the opera Mefistofele by Arrigo Boito.
The young women sang the part of a celestial choir proclaiming ultimate
redemption. Instrumentalists Griffin and Kuhens added a great deal here as
elsewhere, contributing breadth and depth to the musical landscape. Expressive
and grand, the final selection proved a fitting conclusion to an evening of
otherworldly delights.
The motto of the Louisville Chorus is “Refining Life through the Power
of Music.” Indeed, this most recent concert underscored the ability of the art
form to reach and stir audiences -- in this case to uplift them, literally, as
their hearts and minds were invited to contemplate the celestial. But the
Chorus offers a rich variety of music besides. Its next concert, “Broadway at
Its Best,” slated for June 3, will feature Tony Award-winning songs. “Fanfare
for the 4th: Musical Visions of America,” which will be held on July 2, is an
annual multimedia experience not to be missed.
We are truly fortunate to have a musical institution like the Louisville
Chorus in our midst. May it continue to enrich the lives of those whom its art
touches for a long time to come.
Cherubim & Seraphim: Angel Music of the Masters
The Louisville Chorus
April 20, 2012, 7:30 p.m.
St. Agnes Catholic Church
1920 Newburg Road
Louisville, KY 40205
For details of upcoming concerts, visit LouisvilleChorus.org or call
(502) 968-6300.
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