| ODU Side-by Side with VSO |
ReviewsODU Music Department: Honor & Remember Veterans Day is always on November 11 and this year marks 100 years since the end of WWI (11/11/1918) and it conveniently fell on a Sunday—perfect for an afternoon musical tribute. The Old Dominion University Choir and Diehn Chorale, directed by Dr Nancy Klein, were joined by the fifty-three member ODU Wind Ensemble, led by its director, Dr Brian Diller. Before the music began, ODU President John Broderick spoke on the necessity to help each other heal after the senseless tragedies, most recently at a Pittsburgh synagogue and previously at a bar in Florida where forty-nine young people were killed. Then we heard Song for the Heroes from a recent church musical, America (Harland, Machen, Garrett). The searching piano tune set the mood for the evocative text. After the first verse sung by the F. Ludwig Diehn Chorale, they were joined by the entire Concert Choir, singing as they processed in from the back of the church. The battle against Fascism in WWII included fighting to free millions of Jews interred in concentration camps in Eastern Europe and Germany. In memory of the soldiers' sacrifice the assembled singers next sang Maoz Tsur (also known as the “Hebrew Rock of Ages”), followed by a text from Isaiah 52 set by David Moe as How Beautiful Upon the Mountain. This set of songs closed with Inscription of Hope, set by Z. Randall Stroope, to a text discovered on a cellar wall in Cologne, Germany where a group of Jews hid from the Nazis. Soothing layers of sound accompanied by Austin Kopp, trumpet, characterized the first song; singing for joy characterized the second. The third was a sentimental tune sweetly sung, “I believe in God even when he is silent.” The men of the Concert Choir sang Ani Ma' Amin, a traditional Jewish song about the belief in the promise and hope of a Messiah, arranged by John Leavitt. Afterward Dr. Klein stepped aside for Joe L. Harmon III who is currently pursuing a Masters degree at ODU in choral conducting after completing his undergraduate work at Norfolk State University. He led the nine Diehn Chorale men in Prayer of the Children (Kurt Bestor, arr. Andrea Klouse) in what to my ear was the most intriguing of songs—a lovely blend but with prominent sections. The text speaks of the murder of children during the break-up of Yugoslavia when the children lost the innocence of childhood. Ms. Klein returned to lead the university women when the large group returned to the stage in three songs from Voices of Terezin, accompanied by pianist Bobbie Kesler-Corleto, with text by children in that concentration camp where only 100 children out of 15,000 survived. I. To Olga and the jazzy sound of II. The Little Mouse and runs on the piano for the fluttering of wings in III. The Butterfly. The women continued with Reflections from Yad Vashem, the Israeli center that documents and commemorates those killed in the Holocaust. The plaintive violin was played by Madison Perry. The Nazis at Terezin cleverly had the Jews perform the complete Verdi Requiem as a demonstration for the American Red Cross of how good life was for the prisoners. The musicians were later exterminated in death camps. The positive Red Cross report was the connection to the four excerpts of Verdi's amazing Requiem. The tenor soloist was ODU senior Logan Cole Kennison; the other soloists were from the university's voice faculty: soprano Agnes Mobley-Wynne, mezzo-soprano Katherine Lakoski, tenor Brian Nedvin. With full orchestra and all of the choral voices and soloists in the confined, soaring space the sound was a vivid, auditory treat. To end on a somber note, the snare drum rhythm in Hymn to the Fallen (film score Saving Private Ryan by John Williams) was a fitting close.
The eighteen member Old Dominion University F. Ludwig Diehn Chorale joined the Virginia Symphony Chorus in a performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams' (1872-1958) gentle choral piece Serenade to Music set to texts the composer adapted from William Shakespeare. The Merchant of Venice, Act 5, Scene 1, text is a discussion on aspects of music. The chorus opens, singing about moonlight and the musical sounds of night. Twelve soloists (six from each chorus) sang the text, enhanced by the chorus. ODU's Paul Kim's violin melodies twined around sung texts and pianist Rachel Crumbley kept the melody flowing while Robert Shoup, VSO Chorus director, conducted. The music gently pushed the stress of the day away. “Soft stillness and the night/Become the touches of sweet harmony” offered listeners fifteen minutes of bliss. Music by Peter Schickele (b. 1935), better known as P.D.Q. Bach (1807-1742?) was sung by the ODU Diehn Chorale, conducted by Dr. Nancy Klein, the group's director. Pianists Bobbie Kesler-Corleto and Oksana Lutsyshyn were belatedly joined by page turner and fifth hand (or was that fifth ham?) Andrey Kasparov, who gave the Marx Brothers a run for their money before the Liebeslieder Polkas were completed. To enrich our appreciation of such a pinnacle of choral artistry, all texts were printed in the program booklet. The poems, edited by Schickele for maximum comedic effect, are adapted from Shakespeare, Marvell, Herrick, Ben Johnson, Dryden and two by Sir John Suckling (this is no joke—he lived from 1609 to 1642 and was a poet and playwright!). Solo vocalists were soprano Cailin Crane, mezzo-soprano Cristina Loyola and alto Rachel Bradley. The ensemble work was precise and quite demanding, including choreographed body movements and group dance steps, all an experience of genuine fun. The headline event Misa Criolla folk mass based on Rhythms of Hispanic America was led by Mr. Shoup and included the unified choirs of the VSO and ODU. The fine vocal soloists were tenor Gary Montgomery and baritone Matt Kelly, professional core members of the VSO Chorus. In 1965 the Catholic Church (Vatican II) authorized celebration of the mass in local languages and Ariel Ramirez (1921-2010) responded by writing Misa Criolla (Creole Mass). Published in 1964, three million copies had been sold by 1998. The first performance was in 1967, conducted by Ramirez in Germany. The music is a striking combination of the composer's own melodies and traditional Argentinian and Hispano-American regional forms and rhythms. The forces involved a soloist (or vocal duo, as we heard), a mixed choir of at least forty voices, organ or piano, and an instrumental ensemble featuring the charango (a five-stringed, small guitar), quena (a rustic flute), siku (Bolivian panpipes) and a wide variety of regional percussion instruments. With a very limited selection of instruments, our three percussionists—Sarah Williams, Ethan Kagle and John Wudijono—gave it their best try. The guitarist (not listed in the program) played well enough and the large chorus offered the potential of a grand performance but all of this did not add up to a satisfying one. There was an overall lack of urgency and the tempos were regular, not colorful and flexible. The soloists were accurate but they needed a conductor who understood that both dynamic variety and metric variations in singing the text were necessary, and who could inspire the chorus to create depth of sound and brilliant highs when appropriate. This performance was dull and listeners new to the piece left disappointed, thinking the composer let them down. For those of us who know and love this music, the best performances embrace the passion and drive of the Latin rhythms. In 2010 a local, live performance by Schola Cantorum featured a twenty-one member choir, The Tidewater Guitar Orchestra and an eight-member ODU Percussion Ensemble on a large array of instruments. And having a large chorus is not the issue. For a rhythmically authentic performance with a large, North American vocal ensemble, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzoZNgXmMSU The last piece, Tenderland: The Promise of Living, a choral arrangement of music from Aaron Copland's opera The Tenderland was led by Dr. Klein and accompanied on piano by both Ms. Crumbley and Ms. Kesler-Corleto. Having a dozen of the singers pop-up and sing from the audience engaged us all as the brilliant high voices rang through the hall. This charming, well-sung American music was a fitting close to this fine, fun choral evening. Back to Top
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