Ave formosissima!
I sang three performances of Orff's "Carmina Burana" to packed houses this weekend! All were AWESOME. I mean, notably, especially, undeniably AWESOME. We sounded awesome. The orchestra sounded awesome. The kid's choir did an awesome job. The soloists were awesome. The conductor was awesome. DID I MENTION AWESOME??
We got THREE curtain calls on opening night!
Local critics* raved!
"Kudos to the Chorale men for their rhythmic unity and clean diction in 'Fortune plano vulnera' and their lusty energy in the carousing 'In taberna.' Praise to the Chorale women for their heart-melting ardor in the Round Dance and their sweet-toned unison singing in “Floret silva.” Who could not be uplifted by the full choir’s radiant, cheery 'Ecce gratum' or their sumptuous benediction on the lovers in 'Ave formosissima?'" -Ken Herman, San Diego Story
"[T]he performance was a triumph, largely due to Masur’s command of the work’s overall architecture. If the individual sections (there are 24) sometimes faltered as slow passages became slower passages, each section built upon the one that came before. By the end, when the “O Fortuna” theme returns and Masur cranks the orchestra and chorus up to 11, it was thrilling. Masur was aided in no small measure by the orchestra’s best efforts,... an alert, consistent showing by the San Diego Master Chorale; a well-trained San Diego Children’s Choir that was as fearless as Masur; and a communicative solo trio of baritone Tyler Duncan, tenor Ryan Belongie and soprano Celena Shafer." -James Chute, San Diego Union-Tribune
Our usually positive conductor was downright effusive and said, "The greatest sign of your musicianship has been your consistency in these performances." Which I thought was true as well as a very good thing to point out. It's like that old saying- amateurs practice until they get it right, professionals practice until they can't get it wrong. WOO HOO!
*ignores Douglas Richardson commenting on the actual definition of a professional in the back of my mind*
Our darling lovely wonderful conductor gave us Mozart singers a reprieve- we were supposed to meet at 5:45 pm today to work on the Mass in C Minor, but that extra hour of rehearsal has been canceled, so I'll have time to walk the dogs and maybe even eat dinner before reporting to Verdi Requiem rehearsal at 7pm. YAY!
Though I am full of contentment at having made such amazing music this weekend, I am also having to cram post-performance crash into a single day, since we're going straight into the Verdi Requiem, which we will be performing with the symphony on Thursday. And there is also a bit of sad since Ken-David Masur is departing his post as associate conductor of the San Diego Symphony to be the Assistant Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It's an awesome step for him, and even though it means San Diego is losing a wonderful conductor, I'm so happy he's going to be part of such a prestigious institution with a long history of fantastic music. Their hall sounds way better than ours, too.
Right! Off to wade through work annoyances (and there are annoyances...) and try to get everything set for the Big Lecture Series next week. GAH! Fortunately, I have burritos with ellienihon to look forward to! Also singing Verdi tonight!
Love to All!
Mun42
*One local critic has repeatedly trashed Master Chorale's symphony performances to prop up his assertion that the symphony should hire professional choristers (like him!) instead of a "bush league" volunteer choir like us. Never mind that the opera company in whose chorus he sings hired Master Chorale when they needed more singers for last season's Verdi Requiem. The nicest thing he's ever said about one of our performances (Haydn's Paukenmesse last December) was "Was the performance bad? No, of course not. [complaints about programming]." He may yet post a review- any compliments will be back-handed, I'm sure, but for the nonce I'll enjoy his silence.
We got THREE curtain calls on opening night!
Local critics* raved!
"Kudos to the Chorale men for their rhythmic unity and clean diction in 'Fortune plano vulnera' and their lusty energy in the carousing 'In taberna.' Praise to the Chorale women for their heart-melting ardor in the Round Dance and their sweet-toned unison singing in “Floret silva.” Who could not be uplifted by the full choir’s radiant, cheery 'Ecce gratum' or their sumptuous benediction on the lovers in 'Ave formosissima?'" -Ken Herman, San Diego Story
"[T]he performance was a triumph, largely due to Masur’s command of the work’s overall architecture. If the individual sections (there are 24) sometimes faltered as slow passages became slower passages, each section built upon the one that came before. By the end, when the “O Fortuna” theme returns and Masur cranks the orchestra and chorus up to 11, it was thrilling. Masur was aided in no small measure by the orchestra’s best efforts,... an alert, consistent showing by the San Diego Master Chorale; a well-trained San Diego Children’s Choir that was as fearless as Masur; and a communicative solo trio of baritone Tyler Duncan, tenor Ryan Belongie and soprano Celena Shafer." -James Chute, San Diego Union-Tribune
Our usually positive conductor was downright effusive and said, "The greatest sign of your musicianship has been your consistency in these performances." Which I thought was true as well as a very good thing to point out. It's like that old saying- amateurs practice until they get it right, professionals practice until they can't get it wrong. WOO HOO!
*ignores Douglas Richardson commenting on the actual definition of a professional in the back of my mind*
Our darling lovely wonderful conductor gave us Mozart singers a reprieve- we were supposed to meet at 5:45 pm today to work on the Mass in C Minor, but that extra hour of rehearsal has been canceled, so I'll have time to walk the dogs and maybe even eat dinner before reporting to Verdi Requiem rehearsal at 7pm. YAY!
Though I am full of contentment at having made such amazing music this weekend, I am also having to cram post-performance crash into a single day, since we're going straight into the Verdi Requiem, which we will be performing with the symphony on Thursday. And there is also a bit of sad since Ken-David Masur is departing his post as associate conductor of the San Diego Symphony to be the Assistant Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It's an awesome step for him, and even though it means San Diego is losing a wonderful conductor, I'm so happy he's going to be part of such a prestigious institution with a long history of fantastic music. Their hall sounds way better than ours, too.
Right! Off to wade through work annoyances (and there are annoyances...) and try to get everything set for the Big Lecture Series next week. GAH! Fortunately, I have burritos with ellienihon to look forward to! Also singing Verdi tonight!
Love to All!
Mun42
*One local critic has repeatedly trashed Master Chorale's symphony performances to prop up his assertion that the symphony should hire professional choristers (like him!) instead of a "bush league" volunteer choir like us. Never mind that the opera company in whose chorus he sings hired Master Chorale when they needed more singers for last season's Verdi Requiem. The nicest thing he's ever said about one of our performances (Haydn's Paukenmesse last December) was "Was the performance bad? No, of course not. [complaints about programming]." He may yet post a review- any compliments will be back-handed, I'm sure, but for the nonce I'll enjoy his silence.