December 1
St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, Greenwich, NY

Performers: Battenkill Chorale, Skidmore Vocal Chamber Ensemble, Janet McGhee, director, Erich Borden, organ

Program: Gustav Holst (1874-1934), "Personent Hodie" (1916); Daniel Pinkham (1923-2006), "Still this night" (2005), "Christmas Cantata", excerpts (1957), "O Come, Emmanuel — Variations on an Advent Hymn" for organ, "Nativity Madrigals", excerpts (1982); Daniel Read (1757-1836), "Sherburne" (1785); William Walker?, "Star in the East" (1835?); Morten Lauridsen (1943-), "O magnum mysterium" (1994); Franz Biebl (1906-2001), "Ave Maria" (1964); Stravinsky, "Bogoroditse Devo" (1934); Rachmaninov, "Bogoroditse Devo" (1915); Bruckner, "Virga Jesse" (1885); Eric Whitacre (1970-), "Lux Aurumque" (2000); Richard Nicolson (c.1570-1639), "O Pray for the peace of Jerusalem"; Nurit Hirsch, arr. John Leavitt, "Bashana Haba'ah; Mark Silver, "Hayom T'amtzenu" (1961); Max Janowski (1912-1991, "Avinu Malkeynu (1967); Louis Lewandowski(1821-1894), "Halalujoh, halalu el b'kod'sho" (1876-82); Vaughan Williams (1872-1958), "God Bless the Master" from "Folk Songs of the Four Seasons", 1950); PDQ Bach, "Good King Kong Looked Out" (from "A Consort of Choral Christmas Carols")

Can't beat Janet McGhee for programming challenging, "diverse", often inspiring music! Shape Note! Russian! Jewish! With some Daniel Pinkham, Lauridsen, Biebl, Whitacre, & Vaughan Williams thrown in. Plus PDQ Bach, in case anyone got bored (Not!). And I would say that, with a few exceptions, this edition of Battenkill Chorale was up to the challenge.

I also very much appreciated having texts provided, also good program notes written by McGhee, past repertoire, bios, singer rosters, & what might seem a bit over the top (But isn't), an extensive listing of contributors (Almost 150!) & acknowledgment of people, by name (Almost 70!), who do behind the scenes stuff, e.g. riser crew, ticket sales, & mailings. Most impressive!

I was most impressed with the shape notes pieces ("Sherburne" & "Star in the East") & Jewish selections ("Hayom", "Avinu", & "Halalujoh"), somewhat disappointed in the Lauridsen ("O magnum mysterium" — One of my all-time favorites) & Whitacre ("Lux Aurumque"), & I have to say, most of the Pinkham pieces on the program. "God Bless the Master" was absolutely wonderful, & even the PDQ Bach novelty piece turned out well. The Russian liturgical pieces I found somewhat turgid & uninspired, much as I hate to say that of music I also love. Most of the Skidmore group's performance I found uninspired, if technically correct, especially the Jewish piece, "Bashana Haba'ah", which I sang the same weekend with another group (Burnt Hills Oratorio Society), & which we did much better: More inspired & inspiring, much better sense of text & emotion. Maybe age had something to do with that!

The Holst piece, 1st on the program, went well enough, with a few problems of intonation & articulation, e.g. some muddiness in "Aurum, thus, et myrrham ei offerendo". Nice blending of male & female voices, 2nd to 3rd sections.

Of the 5 Pinkham choral pieces on the program, the most successful was "Still this night", sung by the Chorale. Inevitably there were some problems with articulation, as words sometimes get in the way of comprehension or musicality. Example: "Still he sleeps within the manger. / Cradle songs now to him sing". Good balance of upper & lower voices throughout, especially after "Peace on earth" & before "There behold a tiny baby". Last line of the 1st section ("Your salvation draweth nigh") sounded weak, needed better support.

I found it most interesting that McGhee chose to include 2 shape notes selections: Difficult enough to deal with Russian & Hebrew texts, Latin not being a problem, but to add to the mix the irregular, flat (No vibrato) rhythms of shape notes! Must have been quite a challenge to get comfortable with vocal parts singing different, if overlapping lines. Overall, I found it worked, to the credit of the singers & the intrepid McGhee. What did not work, for me anyway, was the overly long lecture by Kerry Woods on the history of shape note singing. A few lines in the concert program would have sufficed. Woods was also inaudible at times.

Most impressive was the unison singing in "Sherburne" ("All glory be to God on high"), also the men in "Star" ("Hail the blest morn" & "Say, shall we yield him"). I found it surprising, also hopeful, that the women were able to hold back, e.g. "Dawn on our darkness & lend us Thine aid", & let the men shine.

Lauridsen's wonderful "O magnum" disappointed me, as I said: Entrances were tentative, upper & lower voices did not manage to sing well together or apart, only at the end was there an impressive unanimity of sound: "Dominum Christum. Alleluia!"

Biebl's "Ave Maria" was much better, due in part to baritone Nick Lasoff's very strong voice ("Ave Maria / Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae / et concepit de Spiritu sancto") & solid ensemble singing ("Sancta Maria..."). Impressive finale, all the more so because the basses were able to hold back on the "Amen", without losing pitch.

The 2 Russian[pieces should have been terrific, but they weren't: Yes, low bass did come through ("yako Spasa rodila yesi dush nashih") in the Rachmaninov, but I thought there as a lack of focus & energy by the chorus throughout, except at the end.

Weird harmonies in the Bruckner, which must have made that piece especially difficult for the chorus: Even the final "Alleluia" came across as weak, especially by the tenors. Getting words ("genuit", "reddidit", "reconcilians") articulated while observing the changing harmonies presented problems that the chorus did not manage to surmount.

Whitacre's "Lux" was much better, for the most part: Except for weak articulation of "Aurumque" & loss of pitch ("velut aurum"), very impressive pianissimo finale ("modo natum").

Someone in the audience wondered why the entire "Christmas Cantata" wasn't sung, instead of excerpts. Along with Pinkham's "Wedding Cantata", it is one of his most popular choral works. Pinkham's rhythms are often interesting but difficult to master ("Gloria in excelsis / et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis"), & words sometimes get in the way: "Scitote quoniam Dominus ipse est Deus: / Ipse fecit nos, et non ipse nos". Two of the hardest lines to get right & not lose musicality!

One problem I had with the Skidmore Ensemble was lack of engagement in the music & text, I also heard some imbalance, e.g. in "What did the baby give the Kings?", in the line: "This gift as well the baby gave". I heard one lower voice come through here. Some muddy diction in this piece, e.g. "Then hope, / as when you're thrown a rope / or nearly drowning in a tidal wave". Also in "Guardian Owl": "Is the hang of your life askew?"

The Skidmore Ensemble did a little better in the last Pinkham piece they performed, "After", which contains some extremely difficult harmonies & rhythms.

Most disappointing to me, since I had sung the piece, was "Bashana": Little or no heart, pitch got lost at times, especially by the men, best by far was unison singing in the last section ("Od tireh od tireh")

In marked contrast were the 2 Hebrew selections that followed: Baritone Lasoff took no prisoners in a very strong performance in "Hayom", received good support from the chorus, rhythms observed, an impressive outing.

Highlight at least of the 2nd half, if not the entire concert, had to be mezzo Chelsea Law's boffo performance in "Avinu". She was at an entirely different level than the other singers, including Lasoff. Not only does she have an impressively strong voice, it is a good voice, not just loud, well supported, & she conveyed real feeling. "Avinu Malkeynu" was absolutely riveting, deserving of a prolonged standing ovation.

Perhaps the Chorale got a second wind in the last half of the concert, but they sounded energized, much more confident & focused: Men were strong in "Halalujoh", wonderful staccato rhythms, impressive finish ("Kol hann'shomoh / t'hallel yoh"). Best overall was the Vaughan Williams selection: Wonderful, stirring unison singing in "God bless the master", impressive finish of phrases by chorus ("Lord Jesus be his guide") & women "God bless the mistress of this house"). You came away from this wanting to hear more.

Even the PDQ Bach novelty piece that ended the concert worked: Kazoos & vocal sound effects added to, rather than detracted from the overall impression of "Good King Kong". After so much deeply religious, serious music, perhaps some comic relief was called for.

All in all, another impressive outing for Janet McGhee & the Battenkill Chorale. I couldn't help but notice that the sopranos, normally the most numerous, if not the most audible part of any mixed chorus, had fewer voices than the basses, 16 to 20, & barely more than the tenors (15). 40 altos! Highly unusual in choruses I am familiar with!

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December 9
United Methodist, Saratoga Springs, NY

Performers: Saratoga Chamber Players (Jill Levy, violin, Eliot Bailen, cello, Diane Walsh, piano), Thomas Meglioranza, baritone, Susan Rotholz, flute, Alan R. Kay, clarinet, Aaron Grad, guitar

Program: Saint-Saëns, Tarantelle in A minor, Op. 6; Aaron Grad (1980-), "Re: Porter" ("Petals on a Wet, Black Bough", "Digits", "Astronomy", "First-Act Love Ballad"); Cole Porter (1891-1964), Songs, arr. Aaron Grad ("Night & Day", "Miss Otis Regrets", "Anything Goes"), Brahms, Piano Trio in B Major, Op. 8

First comment: What a mixed bag of musical tricks Jill Levy et al came up with! Last concert had us dazzled by a Flamenco dancer in an entirely new setting, Saratoga's Universal Preservation Hall, still under construction. Here we were entertained by what was billed as a Cole Porter-like sound, in addition to Cole porter, with some Brahms & a little Saint-Saëns thrown in. Mixed bag indeed!

Highlights for me was the playing of Diane Walsh (Always a pleasure!) on piano & the mellow voice of baritone Thomas Meglioranza. I agree with another member of the audience that Aaron Grad's attempt to emulate, echo, copy, whatever Cole Porter did not work. Maybe some more "post-Grad" research is in order?

I much prefer the usual setting of this ensemble & its guests, Saratoga Methodist, to the somewhat bizarre, cathedral-like environment of Universal Preservation Hall. It is considerably warmer (literally & figuratively), more intimate, & it lends itself much more to something like chamber music.

That said, the addition of the Saint-Saëns to begin the proceedings was obviously intended, as a curtain raiser, to prepare us for Grad & Cole Porter. What actually happened was not what was intended, that is, the lively Tarantelle turned out to be vastly more entertaining & interesting than what followed, in the 1st half. Michael Moore, in his always informative & interesting program notes,observed that this is the kind of thing you might hear at an Italian wedding. It is "a couples dance" between the flute & clarinet, the piano generally supplying undertone (Undertow?). Movement is the name of the game here, & it worked very well!

New works & composers are always, or should be, part of chamber music programs, not always, but often enough to give us at least a taste of what is out there. I found it interesting that Michael Moore focused his attention on Cole Porter, almost exclusively, not on Grad or his rather bizarre poems: "Petals on a wet, black bough", "Digits", "Astronomy", & "First-Act Love Ballad". I have nothing against bizarre lyrics or sounds in the concert hall, within reason, but this kind of fun & games simply did not fit into a Cole Porter 1st half & Brahms 2nd half. Not for me anyway. I heard a lot more Stephen Sondheim ("Sunday in the Park with George" & "Into the Woods") than Gershwin or Porter, or whoever I was supposed to hear, other than Grad himself. Show tunes from Broadway may well have inspired Grad, but there is no Cole Porter heart or soul, only the surface. "I picture your head resting on the glass" is the way the 1st of Grad's 4 poems begins, but other than various auditory & visual impressions, how do you get from there to the ending? "And yet never have I felt less alone". We are supposed to take this as a conundrum: How indeed can one feel "alone" in Grand Central Station? Of course it is possible, but you have to substantiate, fill out, put heart into that conceit, & it is simply not there.

In "Digits", we begin: "If you & I are two, then two is one", & after various verbal contortions, we end up at: "Post-twaddle, I'll be there. You, too. Just we." Clever perhaps, convincing, even on a superficial level, no! What does it all mean? Does it have to mean anything? If it is supposed to in any way compare to Cole Porter, it must have something beneath the surface of cleverness or verbal gamesmanship, & it doesn't. Not here.

"Astronomy", the 3rd Grad piece, has what appears to be a promising beginning: "I was a moon caught in the gravity / Of your terrestrial urge." This strikes me as more a play on Shakespeare's sonnets to his dark lady, playing on words (You are the Sun, I am merely a planet or Earth, etc.), than any serious statement of relationship. And how on earth (No pun unintended) do we get to the end? "I immerse / Myself in you, my little universe". And, another sexual reference, en route to this "immersion", the curious, orgasmic line: "Our Big Bang bubble burst". Lots of "b's", lots of word play (Four play?), not much substance or connecting of the dots.

The closest Grad gets to Porter is probably in the last of his pieces, "First-Act Love Ballad", chiefly because of the subject matter, love, & even here it doesn't work entirely. From "The verse establishes the scene" to "Our first-act love song climaxes with full / Ensemble surging to a tense grand pause" — We get it, Aaron, it's all an act, so to speak, even if heartfelt (Which I doubt), & the sexual references seem altogether gratuitous & don't add anything. Also, what are "fluttered hearts" & Ensemble surging" doing here, in what is supposed to be a poetic, romantic setting? Awkward phrasing, not at all Cole Porter-like, fill in the blanks!

Then the real deal: Cole Porter at last! What a contrast! The addition of guitar (Grad) to the ensemble was felicitous, & Meglioranza's voice, as said before, did resonate with the lyrics, for the most part. I do not agree with another member of the audience that Meglioranza lacked heart or sounded robotic. When we hear Noel Coward's works performed, we hear wit, restraint, some cynicism, but there is always a little pathos, a little heart. Meglioranza did not belt out any of the 3 Cole Porter tunes on the program, but that was what was called for. "Night & Day" is about yearning, no doubt, but it is also about language, talking about love & expectation of love, & this came out in the singing, for me anyway. "Miss Otis Regrets" is a clever play on a serious subject, a Frankie & Johnny melodrama: Miss Otis was lynched for killing her lover. But at least she had the foresight to put pen to paper & write a note of regrets, not about killing anyone but at not being able "to lunch today". You might say she got "hung up" in traffic!

I will admit that the last of the Cole Porter selections, "Anything Goes", had me confused: I couldn't follow the lyrics, perhaps not an absolute necessity here, & except for the reprise of the main theme, I did not know how we got from "Was looked upon as something shocking" (line 1, Refrain 1) to "'Cause Franklin knows / Anything goes!" (last 2 lines, Refrain 3). This may be more my fault than the singer's, or Cole Porter's, but I did find it confusing.

Another comment with which I disagree is that the Brahms piece that ended the concert lacked "intensity". If anything, one could fault the performance of this all-time favorite piano trio as being overly expansive, to the point at time of being exhibitionist! Walsh's playing on piano was extraordinary, & even the cello had many shining moments. The fact that levy on violin was able to play so well within the piece, "second fiddle", as it were, speaks volumes (No pun intended) for her sense of the work, allowing the other 2 voices to be heard.

The beginning of this trio is simply wonderful: Relatively low key, simple by Brahmsian standards, it is indeed, as Michael Moore says, "a Chivalric Romance for Cello & Piano", "the grand Romantic Gesture", but what a gesture! With violin playing underneath, the sweet sound of cello came out very well here, & piano did not overplay, something that can easily happen. I concur entirely with Moore's assessment of this movement (Allegro con brio) "as magnificent a 1st movement as any in the repertoire".

While there may indeed be echoes of Mendelssohn in the 2nd movement (Scherzo), as Moore opines, I heard a certain labored quality, not in the playing but in the music. It may well be light & airy, as Moore points out, intended to delight younger ears, but I heard examples of the reworking & compressing that Brahms apparently felt compelled to do here, in this movement in particular. The ending sounded weak.
The Adagio following is back to square 1, which is entirely appropriate: Dialogue between piano & cello, with strong violin support. "Slow quiet hymnic chords" by piano, counterpoint by strings in response. And again, very well played by all 3 instruments.

Wake up call in the last movement (Allegro), agitation to start, ending in what Moore calls a bit of Beethovenian triumphalism. Wonderful ensemble playing throughout, all 3 voices very much involved musically & emotionally. What a way to end a concert!

Final comment, as a kind of coda to the above: I do not fault anyone for programming something like Aaron Grad, & certainly not Cole Porter, I just did not find much of substance in the former, & any connection of Grad to Cole Porter escaped me entirely.

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December 11
Chapin Hall, Williams College, NY

Performers: Williams Chamber Winds (Meghan Ramsey, flute/piccolo, Alexandra Hoff, flute, Ian Jessen, oboe, Libby Miles, bassoon, Alexander Taylor, Akemi Ueda, clarinets, Matthew Wollin, alto sax), Eva Breitenbach, Benjamin Wood, trumpets, Elizabeth Irvin, horn, Mac Walton, trombone, Christina Lee, drums, Scott Smedinghoff, timpani, Alicia Choi, Teng Jian Khoo, violins, Mimi Lou, cello, Alexander Johnson, double bass, Noah Lindquist, piano, Steven Dennis Bodner, conductor

Program: "Midweek Music": Darius Milhaud (1892-1974), "La Création du monde", Op. 81a (1923); Gerald Finzi (1901-1956), Five Bagatelles for clarinet & piano, Op. 23; Ernest Chausson (1855-1899), Poème for violin & piano; Bach, Two-voice Invention No. 7 for solo piano in E minor, Prelude & Fugue in B-flat Major for solo piano; Schumann, Dichterliebe for baritone & piano (No. 6: "Im Rhein", No. 7: "Ich grolle nicht", No. 8: "Und wüssten's die Blumen, die kleinen"); Daniel Rosensweig (1985-), "Intensely Absent" for cello, violin & timpani; Beethoven, Piano Sonata in G Major, Op. 14/1; Sarah Riskind (1987-), "Inner Fears" (2007) for piano, cello & clarinet

Last Midweek of the semester, most notable for the challenging programming, especially the Milhaud opener, also the vocal selections & 2 original student compositions. Some balance problems in the Milhaud, brass (2 trumpets, trombone, horn) at times overwhelming winds (2 flutes, oboe, bassoon, 2 clarinets, alto saxophone) & strings (2 violins, cello, double bass). I could hardly hear the violins, & I was seated in the front row, though I got a good dose of double bass, which was good! Still, the interesting sonorities of brass & winds came through very well, the saxophone being a constant in this mix. An impressive outing overall!

I am much more familiar with Finzi's choral than his instrumental output, but hearing 3 of his Five Bagatelles, I could hear more. Echoes of Debussy in No. 4 (Forlana), slow & meandering, seemingly without direction, some distinctly Bach sounds in No. 5 (Fughetta), intonation & embouchure generally sound.

Most impressive single performance, despite a broken string replacement & consequent problems with pitch early on, was the violin (Teng Jian Khoo) in the Chausson piece: I have hard this before, it is extremely demanding of the player, many sustained high notes, & after some early problems, well done.

In the only vocal performance, Schumann Lieder by baritone McDowell, much more projection was called for. A difficult space for anything vocal, except perhaps choral, nuances got lost ("Und wüssten's"), pronunciation muddy, much better in the more dramatic "Ich grolle", where volume (fortissimo) & external gesture are called for.

"Im Rhein"

Im Rhein, im schönen Strome,
Da spiegelt sich in den Well'n
Mit seinem großen Dome
Das große, heil'ge Köln.

Im Dom da steht ein Bildnis,
Auf goldnem Leder gemalt;
In meines Lebens Wildnis
Hat's freundlich hineingestrahlt.

Es schweben Blumen und Eng'lein
Um unsre liebe Frau;
Die Augen, die Lippen, die Wänglein,
Die gleichen der Liebsten genau.

"Ich grolle nicht"

Ich grolle nicht, und wenn das Herz auch bricht,
Ewig verlor'nes Lieb ! Ich grolle nicht.
Wie du auch strahlst in Diamantenpracht,
Es fällt kein Strahl in deines Herzens Nacht.
Das weiß ich längst.

Ich grolle nicht, und wenn das Herz auch bricht,
Ich sah dich ja im [Traume,]1
Und sah die Nacht in deines Herzens [Raume,]2
Und sah die Schlang', die dir am Herzen frißt,
Ich sah, mein Lieb, wie sehr du elend bist.
Ich grolle nicht.

"Und wüssten's die Blumen"

Und wüßten's die Blumen, die kleinen,
Wie tief verwundet mein Herz,
Sie würden mit mir weinen,
Zu heilen meinen Schmerz.

Und wüßten's die Nachtigallen,
Wie ich so traurig und krank,
Sie ließen fröhlich erschallen
Erquickenden Gesang.

Und wüßten sie mein Wehe,
Die goldnen Sternelein,
Sie kämen aus ihrer Höhe,
Und sprächen Trost mir ein.

Die alle können's nicht wissen,
Nur eine kennt meinen Schmerz;
Sie hat ja selbst zerrissen,
Zerrissen mir das Herz.

I won't comment on the piano playing, in the 2 Bach selections & Beethoven Sonata, except to say that more practice was needed.

The 2 original student compositions didn't work very well, at least not in this space & with these players. "Intensely Absent" didn't seem to have any particular direction, violin was supposed to have the melody line, cello & timpani underneath, but "intensity" just wasn't there.

"Inner Fears" worked better, albeit the title was a bit melodramatic, with piano & clarinet as duo, cello underneath. Best part was probably the crescendo at the end.

I also appreciated having the extensive program note on "La Création du monde", as well as conductor Bodner's vigorous direction.

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