This choral group has a sweet and well-blended sound but can rise to the occasion when brilliant volume is needed.
The concert opened with Abendlied by Josef Rheinberger, a lovely work I had never heard. This was followed by Brahms's Es ist das Heil uns kommen her, and Mendelssohn's Herr, nun lassest du deinen Diener in Frieden fahren.
The last piece in the first half was Bruckner's sublime Os Justi. This is a work I used to perform with my choir at the Methodist Church in Red Bank, NJ in my days as a choir director and organist. It brought back fond memories.
The second half of the program was Bruckner's Mass in E Minor, a marvelous work which was also new to me. It was accompanied by an orchestra of clarinets, oboes, bassoons, horns, trumpets, and trombones. It is essentially an a capella piece with the instruments entering as choir voices, rather than the typical accompanied choral work. The result was magical.
Mr. Tammen certainly knows his choral stuff! Wonderful sound, musical interpretation, and beautiful accuracy. My one quibble would be several entrances that were a bit sloppy, but that is neither here nor there.
We were delighted to hear this marvelous program sung by this wonderful choir and played by these fine instrumentalists.
Bravi!
PS A police shoot out delayed the start of the concert and several of the musicians were late arriving. The suspect, a murderer, was captured at 9:00 p.m. last night.
