The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir with their conductor Tõnu Kaljuste appeared at the rather spectacular (and very large) St. Paul’s Basilica last night as part of Sounstream’s 2023/24 season. The programme was largely made up of works to liturgical or scriptural texts by Palestrina and Pårt. It was gorgeous polyphony, beautifully sung but in which any sense of the text was largely lost. It also all inhabited a very similar sound world. Even towards the end of the concert when a little variety crept in it was surprisingly little. One might expect a 21st century work setting H.P. Lovecraft to sound more dramatic or abrasive than a 16th century setting of “Ave Maria” but Omar Daniels new piece Antarktos Monodies, despite having a few interesting touches, was much of a piece with the music that surrounded it.
It’s an interesting idea for a CD; couple the well known (and original) orchestral version of Richard Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder with the less well known piano version (the first three songs are arranged by Max Wolff and Im Abendrot by John Gribben). It’s exactly the sort of bold, slightly off the wall idea one might expect from Asmik Grigorian. So how well does it work?
I’m not entirely sure how to categorise Nicholas Weininger’s All Is Mere Breath. I guess, essentially it’s an oratorio inspired by the COVID pandemic when “breath” was very much on people’s minds. It’s written for three soloists; soprano, mezzo-soprano and baritone, men’s chorus and instrumental ensemble. It mostly sets texts from the Old Testament with the soloists singing in English and the chorus in Hebrew. It concludes with the Hebrew prayer “Oseh Shalom”. It begins though, in Hebrew, with the opening of Lamentations; “How she sits alone, the city once great with people.” which I guess sums up how many of us felt in 2020. when I remember walking down an utterly deserted Bay Street in the middle of a work day. The selection of texts really does reflect “desolation” which covers quite a bit of the Old Testament really.
Here’s a round up of February shows not previously mentioned; mostly straight theatre.
operaramblings 