July 7th, 2012
By Rick Pender |
Arts |
Posted In: World Choir Games
World Choir Games: 'Voices of Gold'
Hot night at the School for Creative and Performing Arts
Despite the 100-plus heat on Friday evening, on my way to a
World Choir Games concert at Over-the-Rhine's School for Creative and
Performing Arts (SCPA) I took an extra half-hour to wander through the
renovated Washington Park, which officially opened earlier in the day.
What an incredible scene! Hundreds of operagoers were streaming through
the park on their way to see Porgy and Bess at Music Hall, while
kids from the neighborhood — young and old, I must add — were playing in
the people-friendly fountain. Everyone was strolling around admiring
the views and the colorful "OTR Flags," another festive element of the
park's opening.
On from there to SCPA's Corbett Theater for another sold-out
"Celebration Concert." This one used the theme "Voices of Gold," because
each of the three choirs have won multiple honors in past World Choir
Games and other choral competitions. SCPA seemed like the perfect
setting, since each group was made up of youthful performers: Zvonky
Praha is a school group from a school in Prague in the Czech Republic
and some of its singers were obviously elementary school age kids; SKH
Lam Woo Memorial Secondary School were high schoolers; and the Mansfield
University Concert Choir was a mixed choir of young adults from the
university in Pennsylvania. It's fascinating to observe the differing
personalities of the choirs, here a product of age but also of directors
with very different styles of leading the singing.
Zvonky Praha begain with its 19-member chamber component, separately
named "Abbellimento," all high school age girls clad in black pants and
shirts, with scarlet sashes, some worn as belts, others as scarves and
one as a head band. Their female voices were reedy but strong for their
program, virtually all sung in Czech, so I can't tell you much of what
the music was about.
But I can say it was delivered with passion and
clarity, accompanied in most cases by a blonde-haired pianist who played
with expressive emotion. Several numbers were enhanced by one of the
singers picking up a clarinet and offering soulful punctuation. When the
balance of the choir came on to join Abbellimento, the numbers were
roughly doubled, but again almost all girls wearing red choir capes.
(There were two young boys, but I suspect their voices had not yet
changed, and the feminine quality of the singing did not change.)
Director Jamila Noveknová kept the ensemble in tight control, but for
several final numbers had some soloists step forward, including one of
the younger performers with a gorgeous soprano voice. Their final
number, a choral replication of bells, was especially memorable.
Lam Woo's director, Siu Mei Lee, is a petite, beautiful woman with
shining, black hair. She conducted with the expressive grace of a
ballerina, using large gestures and physical movement to inspire her
very focused choristers. This was a big group, roughly 80 singers,
wearing school uniforms: The boys had white shirts with a school emblem
and ties while girls wore knee-length pale blue dresses with white
"sailor" collars and white knee socks. This group were serious in their
demeanor, totally focused on their animated director. Their wide ranging
program encompassed works by Mendelssohn as well as Asian composers;
their concluding number, "Zum Gali," was a rhythmic traditional number
from Israel that swung between soft and loud passages and up and down
energy, but with a beautiful fading elevation of tone as its conclusion.
The intense singers maintained their demeanor as the audience gave them
a standing ovation, but when a little boy entered from the wings to
hand a bouquet to Siu Mei Lee, the entire chorus burst into applause.
Their affection for her was evident.
Peggy Dettwiler is clearly a veteran conductor (she teaches the craft to
others at Mansfield University) and her work with her more mature
singers was the most satisfying component of the evening. A balanced
choir of about 60, the men wore traditional tuxedoes and black ties,
while the women were attired in floor-length gowns all cut the same way.
(The women also wore identical sparkling necklaces and earrings.)
According to the introductions made for this group, their repertoire is
generally drawn from religious works, but that did not mean it was a lot
of the same thing: They offered a beautiful piece with German lyrics
and music by Mendelssohn, followed by a solemn, stately song by Stephen
Paulus, "The Old Church." Next was a traditional Gospel number, "Hold
On!," delivered with relaxed energy. For a traditional Appalachian hymn,
"Every Night When the Sun Goes Down," the group formed an unorthodox
circle around Dettwiler, who conducted the entire program without music
from a small, square platform about six-inches in height. That meant
that some had their backs to the audience, but at one key moment, they
turned toward us, which elevated not only their volume but the intensity
of their heartfelt performance. Their finale, "Pal-so seong," was a
humorous number in which various solo singers burst into giggles, hoots
and chortles, culminating in gales of laughter — a truly unusual piece.
The group's encore, an infectious "Alleluia," had them file up the
aisles at Corbett Theater, surrounding the audience with joyous song. It
was a perfect conclusion to the varied program.
