Sunday, August 11, 2013, Pacific Chorale presented its sixth
annual Choral Festival at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa. The
free event is a favorite for those who are in the know and for those newcomers
to the event who are lucky enough to happen onto the information in time to
secure the free tickets.
Artistic Director John Alexander introduced the program that
featured 286 singers from 85 cities throughout America. Seventy-eight singers
represented the Pacific Chorale. The bulk of the group represented 126 other
religious and secular organizations.
According to Alexander, the initial goal of the Festival was
to keep alive the great masterworks of dead composers. Diverging from that
mission this year, the main work on the program was by a living composer.
Accompanied by Organist Jung-A Lee, the mass choir performed the Morten
Lauridsen Lux Æterna, originally
scored for choir and chamber orchestra.
Lux Æterna is all
about light. Sandwiched by two portions in Latin, the inner section is comprised
of three medieval hymns that tell of light, hope through light and how light
affects us. In many instances in the
Festival performance, clearly, the light was present.
An earthly low rumble from the organ marked the opening. The
singers generated a dome of sound with their first gentle strains of the
Introitus – the resulting tone seemingly simultaneously rooted in earth and
lifted toward the sky. The group deftly built from piano to a wonderful
crescendo. The phrase, ‘et lux perpetua’ was well-sculpted, sensitive and alive
with expression.
Overall, the singers offered seamless and subtle phrasing
and clean lines, perhaps aided by an extreme softening of consonants – an
artistic choice that makes for a uniform sound and prevents individual voices
from breaking through the mix. The group performed with the most expression and
artistry in the two Latin sections of the work.
A well-sung low rumble from the basses in the Agnus Dei
reminded us of the opening organ strains. The choir poignantly reiterated, ‘Lux
æterna luceat eis,’ followed by some nicely managed tenor work and a brief,
pretty polyphony in the women’s voices. A heartfelt Alleluia and a nicely
suspended final resolution of the Amen and exit music involving further
rumblings from the organ brought the work to a close.
Bass-baritone Carver Cossey showed off his upper register in
a fun rendition of the Moses Hogan ‘This Little Light of Mine.’ An unusual choice of microphone or
amplification did not do Cossey justice. Only a few of his velvety lower tones sounded
true. The choir presented the piece according to its arrangement.
Organist Jung-A Lee ably performed three organ works. Lee
followed the John Weaver Toccata and the Marcel Dupré Prelude and Fugue in G
minor, Opus 7, No. 3 with the world premier of a busy, multi-layered and modal
work by Corneliu Mootz titled Triunity.
For more on upcoming Pacific Chorale events, visit http://www.pacificchorale.org/
