Here's something you might be interested in.
Before the concert on Sunday we were reminded that the San Diego Symphony is a “tier one orchestra”. That is not in dispute. How about the San Diego Master Chorale? They’re a tier one church choir but I’m getting ahead of myself here.
The concert at Symphony Hall started with a moving performance of Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas brasileiras No. 5 Soprano Jessica Rivera served up some stunning pianissimo singing which got me very excited for the Faure Requiem but I’m getting ahead of myself again.
We got a chance to hear four of our symphony players as soloists in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante. Sarah Skuster was on oboe, Sheryl Renk was on clarinet, Valentine Martchev was on bassoon, and Benjamin Jaber was on horn.
Their ensemble and solo playing were well phrased and pretty tight. The middle adagio section was gorgeous. For those not familiar with the form, a sinfonia concertante is like a concerto for multiple instruments, in this case a quartet of winds.
The second part of the concert was Faure’s Requiem. This music is accessible enough for any undergraduate chorus and soloists to perform well. In fact, baritone soloist Quinn Kelsey mentioned singing it as an undergrad.
This isn’t to say that Faure’s music is easy to perform well. It is not. While the notes themselves are not challenging for the chorus or soloists, the sound must be as beautiful as possible at all times and the phrasing must be exquisite.
I gave the Master Chorale a free pass in the Beethoven Ninth but the grace period is over. The San Diego Master Chorale simply doesn’t have the voices to perform this music at a level that is worthy of the San Diego Symphony. Their sound is out of balance with the middle voices more prominent than they should be.
The sound in general is not classical. The sound they make, particularly in the tenor section, is almost worthy of a show choir. I’m not interested hearing the cast of Glee sing Faure’s Requiem. There is no depth to the tone of the chorus but an overriding impression of horizontal vocal production.
Lower your larynxes and raise your pallets folks. Of course, that takes years of vocal instruction and practice to accomplish. Rehearsing once or twice a week isn’t going to get it done.
What was prominent was the “K” in kyrie and the “Ch” in Christe. These consonant sounds might have been the loudest thing the Master Chorale produced. Why? Why? WHY? It is distracting and ruins the line. I think we all know the text is “kyrie eleison, Christe eleison”. There is no need to beat us over the head with consonant stops.
This focus on consonants is typical of choirs who have limited vocal abilities. How about unifying your vowel production so the choir sounds better? Again, that takes time and these people are volunteers.
Throughout, the choir was a ball and chain on the level of the performance. The magical moments in Faure’s music fell flat. We’ll explore one of those moments in depth in the next post.
Yes, I know this is a negative outpouring of frustration. You want something positive?
Dear San Diego Symphony Administration,
Please contact the local union representative of The American Guild of Musical Artists and enter into contract negotiations for hiring a core of 24 singers for all of your concerts that require a chorus.
Best, Garrett
Here’s an amateur choir with a nice sound and no explosive “K’s”. It can be done. However, I'm pretty sure they're not performing with a "tier one" orchestra.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLg4bZCd9j4
Before the concert on Sunday we were reminded that the San Diego Symphony is a “tier one orchestra”. That is not in dispute. How about the San Diego Master Chorale? They’re a tier one church choir but I’m getting ahead of myself here.
The concert at Symphony Hall started with a moving performance of Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas brasileiras No. 5 Soprano Jessica Rivera served up some stunning pianissimo singing which got me very excited for the Faure Requiem but I’m getting ahead of myself again.
We got a chance to hear four of our symphony players as soloists in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante. Sarah Skuster was on oboe, Sheryl Renk was on clarinet, Valentine Martchev was on bassoon, and Benjamin Jaber was on horn.
Their ensemble and solo playing were well phrased and pretty tight. The middle adagio section was gorgeous. For those not familiar with the form, a sinfonia concertante is like a concerto for multiple instruments, in this case a quartet of winds.
The second part of the concert was Faure’s Requiem. This music is accessible enough for any undergraduate chorus and soloists to perform well. In fact, baritone soloist Quinn Kelsey mentioned singing it as an undergrad.
This isn’t to say that Faure’s music is easy to perform well. It is not. While the notes themselves are not challenging for the chorus or soloists, the sound must be as beautiful as possible at all times and the phrasing must be exquisite.
I gave the Master Chorale a free pass in the Beethoven Ninth but the grace period is over. The San Diego Master Chorale simply doesn’t have the voices to perform this music at a level that is worthy of the San Diego Symphony. Their sound is out of balance with the middle voices more prominent than they should be.
The sound in general is not classical. The sound they make, particularly in the tenor section, is almost worthy of a show choir. I’m not interested hearing the cast of Glee sing Faure’s Requiem. There is no depth to the tone of the chorus but an overriding impression of horizontal vocal production.
Lower your larynxes and raise your pallets folks. Of course, that takes years of vocal instruction and practice to accomplish. Rehearsing once or twice a week isn’t going to get it done.
What was prominent was the “K” in kyrie and the “Ch” in Christe. These consonant sounds might have been the loudest thing the Master Chorale produced. Why? Why? WHY? It is distracting and ruins the line. I think we all know the text is “kyrie eleison, Christe eleison”. There is no need to beat us over the head with consonant stops.
This focus on consonants is typical of choirs who have limited vocal abilities. How about unifying your vowel production so the choir sounds better? Again, that takes time and these people are volunteers.
Throughout, the choir was a ball and chain on the level of the performance. The magical moments in Faure’s music fell flat. We’ll explore one of those moments in depth in the next post.
Yes, I know this is a negative outpouring of frustration. You want something positive?
Dear San Diego Symphony Administration,
Please contact the local union representative of The American Guild of Musical Artists and enter into contract negotiations for hiring a core of 24 singers for all of your concerts that require a chorus.
Best, Garrett
Here’s an amateur choir with a nice sound and no explosive “K’s”. It can be done. However, I'm pretty sure they're not performing with a "tier one" orchestra.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLg4bZCd9j4