Elijah at Carnegie Hall for Bryn Nov 2007

xcept · Last edited by xcept on Tue Mar 04, 2008 10:34 pm; edited 1 time in total

COLLEGIATE CHORALE (Monday) This ensemble begins its 66th season in splendid style with Mendelssohn's majestic oratorio 'Elijah.' The Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel lends his powerfully expressive, lyrical voice to the title role. He will be joined by the soprano Hei-Kyung Hong, the tenor Eric Cutler and the mezzo-soprano Nancy Maultsby. Robert Bass conducts the chorale and the estimable Orchestra of St. Luke's. At 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org; $20 to $160. (Vivien Schweitzer)

Source: New York Times Fri 16 Nov 2007

xcept · Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 8:51 am Post subject:

review - posted by xena

A Prophet With a Lot of Support

When you remember the House of Windsor's origins, it is easier to accept that the British choral tradition also has a couple of Germans as its bedrock. Handel turned to oratorios in the first part of the 18th century, and if his operas dropped out of sight until relatively recently, 'Messiah' has ruled the world uninterrupted.

A century later, Mendelssohn, a loving and beloved Anglophile, gave Britain 'Elijah,' and its leisurely pace and portly dimensions set an example on which the Arthur Sullivans and Edward Elgars could later build.

The Collegiate Chorale, a few hundred strong, crowded the stage of Carnegie Hall on Monday night for its own 'Elijah,' even if its plus-size forces were almost like chamber music next to the thousand singers and musicians Mendelssohn himself assembled for a Vienna performance in 1847. He died shortly beforehand, and the celebration became a memorial.

'Elijah' shows and tells the trials and triumphs of an Old Testament prophet asked to steer the Israelites back to paths of righteousness. Some of the exchanges are acted out and essentially operatic. Narration and verbal description, however, take the place of sets, costumes and action. Musical movement is nearly continuous, with hardly a gap between the arias and the ensemble and choral numbers.

We tend to think of Mendelssohn in terms of fineness and elegance, but sheer scale is a major aesthetic in 'Elijah.' If the 18th century enticed the sensibilities, the 19th was more interested in overpowering them. Conducted by Robert Bass, the Collegiate Chorale sounded very good: singing with a focused roar when appropriate, with a lovely warmth in softer passages, and everywhere with a discipline of articulation and phrasing unusual to a large group hovering somewhere between the professional and the amateur.

Bryn Terfel sang the part of Elijah and set a standard for his fellow soloists. The diction was clear enough that you stopped looking at the text scrolling on a screen above the stage. The delivery had an unforced ease that the sometimes overemphatic Hei-Kyung Hong and Nancy Maultsby could learn from. Ms. Hong was perhaps miscast, and after years of honorable service her soprano sounded more managed than commanding.

Ms. Maultsby and the tenor Eric Cutler, on the other hand, have strong, rich, healthy techniques. Lester Lynch's bass added well to the larger ensembles. Daniel Castellanos was the true-eared boy soprano. The Orchestra of St. Luke's sounded muddled in the early numbers but straightened itself out nicely in what Mr. Bass could only think of as a satisfying evening.

Source: New York Times