Classically Speaking

The female vocal ensemble womanSong has been on the Charleston scene a dozen years now, and I’ve attended several of their concerts, mostly after Emily Capece assumed the position of artistic director and conductor.

This past weekend’s Winter Concert offered a diversity of music and musical styles. Capece is a fine conductor – clear and expressive. While I’m not very well acquainted with the female choral repertoire, she seems to be well-acquainted with it.

The concert opened with a small ensemble singing an Alleluia by Tarik O’Regan, an up-and-coming thirty-something British composer who’s gaining an international reputation. The fanfare was performed with only drum, putting both audience singers in the spirit of the season.

The full ensemble then divided in two and went back a century for an 8-part Ave Maria by another British composer, Gustav Holst.

Capece also directs Cora Voce, the high school girls choir of Appalachian Children’s Chorus. They joined womanSong for the performance of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, the entrée of the evening as it were. A small instrumental ensemble from the symphony, David Donathan on continuo and soloists Mariel van Dalsum-Boggs and Branita Holbrook-Bratka also joined the fray.

A commissioned work, Stabat Mater was originally written for male soprano and alto and continuo; the work was later arranged for SA chorus with soprano and alto soloists and strings by Bach. Unfortunately, both soloists were sopranos. Van Dalsum-Boggs offered her usual lovely spinning soprano, but Holbrook-Bratka’s fine mezzo voice was often lost in the lower range, However she did provide a marvelous tonal color contrast.

Pergolesi died at the young age of 26 and this was one of his final works. Written as a Good Friday meditation in honor of Mary, it enjoyed immense popularity and secured his place in musical history.

The addition of the younger voices suited the Pergolesi well, supporting a pure tone to match the style of the musical era. The instrumentalists only covered the alto soloist occasionally. I was surprised to see cellist Andrea DiGregorio playing bass, but I probably shouldn’t have since most string players must teach all strings.

After intermission, it was obvious that the audience was bolstered by family and friends of Cora Voce as there was a mass exodus. What a shame! There were treasures in store for those who stayed for the second half – not the least of which was the outstanding accompaniment of pianist Janet Brightbill who also offered a superb solo for the free-will offering.

We traveled back a few more centuries for the text to Vivos Voco by contemporary composer Joan Szymko. The ensemble performed this intricate work from memory as they did some other works near the end of the program. As a choral singer myself, I appreciated the commitment required to do that and it impresses an audience.

The chorale was joined by violinist Tim Tan for two of the Five Hebrew Love Songs, written by Eric Whitacre for his wife, soprano Hila Piltmann. These are haunting melodies, delicately delivered by both ensemble and violinist.

Snowforms by Canadian R. Murray Schafer paired vocal and visual landscapes for what the composer calls a ‘soundscape.’ As a singer, I can assure you that these require much more than vocal skill to perform. Each singer must become a vocal interpreter, a shared creator of the work of art.

After a nicely sung When the Song of the Angels is Stilled by a small ensemble, the full chorus launched into the lighter section to close the program. The folk song Wood River and soloist Nicole Cofer was an audience pleaser. That was followed by a sing-along First Nowell (which could have benefited from some audience light) and a Swingle Singers-like version of the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.

The program ended with the stirring Lay Earth’s Burdens Down, a commissioned work for the Portland Symphonic Girlchoir. The ensemble then launched into a rousing encore of the favorite, Go Where I Send Thee.

I should mention that Wood River and Go Where I Send Thee are both part of their just-released first CD, titled Gloria for its main work, the setting by Vivaldi.

All in all, it was a most pleasant evening of diverse music well-performed. The ensemble actually looked like they enjoyed singing this music, a quality that is often lacking. They sing again for Good Night and their Spring Concert is slated for April 30. Mark your calendars!