Concert Reviews

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette; Date: Saturday, March 6, 2010

Chamber Singers ace fairly rare Requiem

Eric E. Harrison

Put together a list of composers of great Requiems and it’s likely to include the names Mozart, Verdi, Berlioz, Faure, Durufle and maybe even John Rutter.

But even fans of the genre are likely to omit Luigi Cherubini.

The Arkansas Chamber Singers gave a nonpareil performance of Cherubini’s greatly neglected but very worthy Requiem in c minor, backed by 27 members of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and conducted by John Erwin, in a concert titled “Of Time and Eternity” on Friday night at Little Rock’s St. James United Methodist Church.

Cherubini, a contemporary of Mozart and Beethoven (who was sufficiently impressed by this piece that he wanted it played at his funeral), creates some wonderful tone painting both in the choral parts and in the orchestra - the brass, including a full three-trombone section, and tam-tam (a big gong) announcing the “Dies irae” (“Day of wrath”), for example, is almost guaranteed to lift an audience out of its seats.

With very few exceptions, Erwin managed an excellent balance between chorus andorchestra. And as always, his exacting approach to the music results in precise singing, near-perfect diction and superb dynamics, including the impressive crescendo into the “Confutatis maledictis” section of the “Dies irae” (the part about the damned writhing in flames) and the hushed, drawn-out finale, wherein one singer or instrumentalist who was one whit too loud would have ruined the effect.

He, his singers and the players also kept the piece’s innate drama alive throughout, even in the almost painfully long “Hostias” movement and the seemingly endless (and repeated) “Quam olim Abrahae” double fugue.

As an appetizer, Erwin programmed four segments of Felix Mendelssohn’s setting of Psalm 42, “Wie der Hirsch schreit” (“As the hart pants after the water-brooks”), with a lovely soprano solo recitative and aria from Lis Geoghehan, which, alas, the orchestra covered a little part of when she was in the lower register of her voice.

The brass section of the orchestra was in top form during the fourth movement, the first statement of “Was betrubst du dich meine Seele” (“Why, my soul, art thou so vexed”).

Singers’ program is a near-perfect Christmas concert

Eric E. Harrison

John Erwin and his Arkansas Chamber Singers have created a near-perfect Christmas concert.

The content of “That Special Time of Year” Friday night at Trinity Presbyterian Church on Rahling Road in far western Little Rock is about 85 percent sacred, 95 percent reverent (one can perhaps quibble with references, even tasteful ones, to wassail, figgy pudding, mead, mistletoe and merriment) and 100 percent relevant. It is also probably the only musical program you will hear before the end of the year that is 100 percent Santa-free.

Erwin’s six-century musical journey starts with the 14th century German carol “In Dulci Jubilo”; trolls through the Renaissance with a cappella pieces by Jacquet de Mantua and Eustache Du Caurroy; references the Baroque (“Rejoice in the Lord Alway” by Henry Purcell); and, while skipping the Classical period, stops for a while in the Romantic for two oratorio choruses and an anthem by Felix Mendelssohn.

The almost entirely English second half features a dramatic Victorian-era retelling of the Nativity (“There Were Shepherds” by Dudley Buck) and a pair of Edwardian delights (Edward Elgar’s “Ave Maria” setting and Gustav Holst’s perennial “In the Bleak Mid-Winter”) and wraps up with one of 20th century icon John Rutter’s carol collections.

Erwin has found an acoustical gem at Trinity, near-perfect for this type of program, particularly for Mendelssohn’s antiphonal, eight-part “Heilig,” with the singers in the side aisles and Erwin conducting from the middle.

Harmonies and dynamics were nicely layered in the Renaissance works. Tenors Jordan Bennett and Bruce Rentz and bass Tim Barlett made a nice trio of Magi in “There Shall a Star from Jacob Come Forth” from Mendelssohn’s Christus. Soprano Lis Geoghehan had some fine solo moments in “There Were Shepherds.”

Erwin and his singers will repeat the concert at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Cathedral of St. Andrew, 617 S. Louisiana St., Little Rock. Ticket information is available by calling (501) 377-1121 or at the Web site, ar-chambersingers. org.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette; Date: Oct 11, 2009

Singers' soaring voices greet season

Bill Jones

A timely salute to timeless composers and the music they created graced the opening concert of the Arkansas
Chamber Singers’ 31st season Friday night at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Little Rock.

Under John Erwin’s disciplined direction, the 50-plusmember choral group presented works by Henry Purcell, George
Frideric Handel, Joseph Haydn and Felix Mendelssohn. The result was a rich sampling of Baroque, Classical and
Romantic-Era choral gems, with a postmodern surprise by Stephen Chapman.

Opening the program was Purcell’s “Soul of the World,” with its exquisite rising harmonies and elegantly textured
phrasing. Next was Handel’s familiar “See the Conqu’ring Hero Comes.” The Chamber Singers provided a refreshingly
brisk rendering in which the altos and sopranos shone. The entire chorus rose to the challenge in Handel’s well-known
“Hallelujah, Amen.” Rounding out the first Baroque section was Handel’s “Music, Spread Thy Voice Around,” in which
soprano Diana Holzhauser’s tender solo was warmly embraced by the supporting choral group.

Haydn’s “Abendlied zu Gott,” dedicated to Chamber Singers founding member Elinor Royce and featuring strong work
by the sopranos, was an early high point. Three choral works by Mendelssohn, “Grant Us Thy Peace,” “Herr, Nun
Lassest” and “O, For the Wings of a Dove” were stunningly beautiful. Soprano Katy White, alto Susan Walker, tenor
Jordan Bennett and bass Tim Bartlett provided an ethereal interpretation of the German text, while soprano soloist Lis
Geoghegan soared in “Dove.”

Four outstanding numbers by Purcell — “If Music Be the Food of Love,” “Hush, No More,” “If Love’s a Sweet Passion”
and “In These Delightful Pleasant Groves” — opened the second part of the program. The delicate harmonies, decisive
pauses and syllableby-syllable emotional connection that characterize his vocal works were on display in the richly
nuanced renditions by the Chamber Singers. The playful wit of “Groves” was echoed in Haydn’s “O Wondrous Harmony,”
in which the female answers to male assertions brought chuckles from audience members.

The strongest part of the program was a trio of songs by Mendelssohn: “Die Nachtigall,” “Early Springtime” and
“Farewell to the Woods.” Rounding out the concert was a remarkable contemporary work, Chapman’s “Time Pieces,”
which ranged from the contrapuntal “Tempus” to a Jacobean pastiche based on Ben Jonson’s “Come, My Celia,” and
from the extraordinary setting of metaphysical poet Henry Vaughan’s “I Saw Eternity” (featuring violinist Mike Burkepile)
to the literal “ ticktock” sounds of “Clocks.”