Promising choir
AN ENTHUSIASTIC audience of over 300 people was privileged to hear The Handel Manuel Chorus, a newly formed vocal ensemble present a concert of western classical music at the Egmore Wesley Church on February 20. After a first half of six duos for various combinations of instruments, the choir performed, for the first time here, one of the most celebrated of Mozart's sacred works, the Solemn Vespers for a Confessor, K.V. 339.
After this concert, the choir, less than a year old, will surely become known as the premiere private choir in the city. For their first public appearance, to choose this six-movement piece, a grand Viennese classical setting of the traditional music for the ancient Roman Catholic service of Vespers, was an ambitious undertaking.
The Vespers consists of the five psalms traditional in this service, plus a Magnificat. This is a piece from the middle of Mozart's brief career, written in 1780 when he was 24, but already all the mastery of his gift was in evidence. This means that any choir attempting it has major tasks: of endurance (the piece lasts 25 minutes); of interpretation (the Viennese classical style perfected by Mozart requires a finesse and subtlety and needs great sensitivity); of emotive singing; and of strong conviction. The choir, from where I was sitting, got high marks in each of these areas of the choral art. There was a certain quality to the singing, which showed clearly that the choir understood its task, understood the music it was singing, and gave, as individuals and as a group, soulful attention to its performance. That was all clearly due to careful practice and training by a dedicated conductor.
One of the most famous sections of the piece (sometimes used for a particular mood of reflection in films) is the psalm "Laudate Dominum." It is scored for soprano solo and chorus. The audience was gratefully rewarded by the singing of the fine soprano Cleona Abraham in this movement. Not to be forgotten in this performance was the fine accompaniment by Egmore Wesley Church's organist Damayanthi Santwan.
I must mention, too, the piece that stood out most strongly for me in the first half of the concert. That was a performance by the saxophonist, fondly known as "Sax" Raja" and the pianist Lalitha Chowller, playing the Concertino for Saxophone and Piano of the early twentieth century composer Jaques Ibert.
Fine playing by both in this challenging but brilliant and fiery music must be mentioned here.
Again, I cannot praise the efforts of this new group highly enough, and look forward to its next concert with great anticipation.
RANDALL GILES
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