Hymn to St Cecilia (Britten)
Where does the uttered music go? (Walton)
Three Shakespeare Songs (Vaughan Williams)
Who we are (Andrew)
Se tu mi lassi (Monteverdi)
Ecco mormorar l'onde (Monteverdi)
Trois Chansons de Charles d'Orleans (Debussy)
Unicornis Captivatur (Gjeilo)
May Magnificat (Mathias)
Hard by a crystal fountain (Morley)
The lady Oriana (Wilbye)
As Vesta was (Weelkes)
Alleluia (Rose)
3 Chinese folksongs from 'Half Moon Rising'
Star of the County Down (Traditional, arr. Parry)
Encore: The Gallant Weaver (MacMillan)
Cantoría Hong Kong
National Youth Choir of Great Britain (NYCGB)
Dominic Lam (Conductor)
John Winzenburg (Conductor)
Greg Beardsell (Conductor)
Ben Parry (Conductor)
This summer all in a sudden several reputable choirs from UK gave the city a choral treat every few weeks with varieties in repertoire. The NYCGB performance was highly impressive in many ways and breaking the traditional mode of choral singing to an extent. It was welcoming to see them collaborated with highly competent choral singers from local university even under limited rehearsal time. Despite the auditorium acoustic slightly dry and not that resonate, the singing from the nearly eighty strong choir filled the space effectively.
A rich body of sound from the sopranos began Britten's Hymnn to St Cecilia with vigour. Vowels were surprisingly homogenous and bright. Rhythmically precise in the tongue twisting scherzo part and diction was still clear. Solos at the fugue were technically capable and integrated into an effective dialogues. Though I felt Ben Parry should demonstrate the phrasing in his conducting than merely signalling entries and rhythmic counting. His approach resulted in a more vertical reading of the score that not always produce the music direction. A dramatic rendition of Walton's 'Where does the uttered music go?' from the tender opening up to the harmonically rich conclusion. The unified vowels and good intonation sustained a clear harmonic structure throughout. Greg Beardsell was slightly exaggerated with his conducting posture but managed to keep the music flowing.
I felt the Three Shakespeare Songs by Vaughan Williams were more suitable with Ben Parry's conducting in compare to the Britten. Parts were balanced in the 'ding-dong' passage of the first movement and maintained good intonation throughout. The stillness, tenderness and harmonic richness of the lower range were vividly produced in the second movement. The last movement could benefit by a swifter tempo for a dramatic conclusion than merely steady. I generally dislike or not too interest in repetitive music, but adding the visual aspects enhanced my appreciation of Kerry Andrew's Who we are. Tribal dance like choreography and using hand gestures gave a physical musical expression than just a conventional stand still singing posture, but still equally sophisticated and intriguing presentation of the music.
Inevitably, Cantoría Hong Kong had a lot to live up after such a strong start, and their singing was fairly presentable despite a smaller group and varied technical ability. They gave a polished and pleasant account of the Monteverdi madrigals alike one experienced at choral evensong. It would be better if the vowels could sustain longer and unify, adopt a quicker tempo and has more direction in the singing. Tenors sometimes lacked vocal body in their singing that affected the support of energy in sustaining the momentum. Intonation improved and better ensembleship in Debussy's chansons with reinforcement from the NYCGB fellowship octet, but diction occasionally sounded more Latin than French. Alto solo had a beautiful timbre with the right colour and projection at the intimate second movement. A slightly messy entrance of the third movement but rectified for a dramatic conclusion with good musical phrasing. The ensemble sounded more at home in Latin during Gjeilo's Unicornis Captivatur, and sopranos' singing were more flexible to shape the music. They successfully built up the momentum from the tender opening towards the first climatic 'alleluia'. Though the produced tone in the second section was not always radiant and tenors sometimes risking to go flat. Tempo also dragged along and the built up from lower voices seems lacking direction until the final alleluia for the energetic coda.
I had not come across William Mathia's The May Magnificat until this highly convincing performance by NYCGB and what a discovery. Harmonically complex with a muscular bright tone throughout. The first choir sang the colourful English text alternated with the second in Latin. The full choir again displayed itself as a highly disciplined body with rhythmic precision, sustained the vocal energy throughout and observed the dynamic contrast faithfully. Diction was bright and homogenous to let the music to ring in a radiant sound. In turn, a chamber choir was formed with lesser members without conductor to sing the first Elizabethan madrigal of the evening by Morley. Voices blended together with the desired vocal support and volume, also there were thoughts in place to phrase the music meaningfully. A septet followed to sing Willbye's madrigal but took time to warm up their voices and adjusted before complimenting each other. Sopranos were pushing the pitch very sharp and even overpowering in the third madrigal as tribute to the monarch by Weelkes. Though never feel too heavy even the full choir involved and rarely a big group could sound so well in polyphony works.
Alleluia by James Rose sounded rather similar to the compositional style of Gabriel Jackson for bright long vowel and illuminated sound landscape. The full choir and octet successfully in built up gradually the long wordless crescendo up to the ultimate climax. Very bright vowels again in the Chinese folksongs but I did not find the words easy to identify. Good momentum and intonation even the tempo was on the broad side. There was a sense of proudness when Star of the County Down was sung, also the group loosen up allowing the music to swing. An emotional and tender closing was chosen instead to finish the superlative evening with a Scottish fervour by MacMillan's The Gallant Weaver. The sweet melody was given a twist and as ever the choir maintained good intonation in the final conclusion.
Where does the uttered music go? (Walton)
Three Shakespeare Songs (Vaughan Williams)
Who we are (Andrew)
Se tu mi lassi (Monteverdi)
Ecco mormorar l'onde (Monteverdi)
Trois Chansons de Charles d'Orleans (Debussy)
Unicornis Captivatur (Gjeilo)
May Magnificat (Mathias)
Hard by a crystal fountain (Morley)
The lady Oriana (Wilbye)
As Vesta was (Weelkes)
Alleluia (Rose)
3 Chinese folksongs from 'Half Moon Rising'
Star of the County Down (Traditional, arr. Parry)
Encore: The Gallant Weaver (MacMillan)
Cantoría Hong Kong
National Youth Choir of Great Britain (NYCGB)
Dominic Lam (Conductor)
John Winzenburg (Conductor)
Greg Beardsell (Conductor)
Ben Parry (Conductor)
This summer all in a sudden several reputable choirs from UK gave the city a choral treat every few weeks with varieties in repertoire. The NYCGB performance was highly impressive in many ways and breaking the traditional mode of choral singing to an extent. It was welcoming to see them collaborated with highly competent choral singers from local university even under limited rehearsal time. Despite the auditorium acoustic slightly dry and not that resonate, the singing from the nearly eighty strong choir filled the space effectively.
A rich body of sound from the sopranos began Britten's Hymnn to St Cecilia with vigour. Vowels were surprisingly homogenous and bright. Rhythmically precise in the tongue twisting scherzo part and diction was still clear. Solos at the fugue were technically capable and integrated into an effective dialogues. Though I felt Ben Parry should demonstrate the phrasing in his conducting than merely signalling entries and rhythmic counting. His approach resulted in a more vertical reading of the score that not always produce the music direction. A dramatic rendition of Walton's 'Where does the uttered music go?' from the tender opening up to the harmonically rich conclusion. The unified vowels and good intonation sustained a clear harmonic structure throughout. Greg Beardsell was slightly exaggerated with his conducting posture but managed to keep the music flowing.
I felt the Three Shakespeare Songs by Vaughan Williams were more suitable with Ben Parry's conducting in compare to the Britten. Parts were balanced in the 'ding-dong' passage of the first movement and maintained good intonation throughout. The stillness, tenderness and harmonic richness of the lower range were vividly produced in the second movement. The last movement could benefit by a swifter tempo for a dramatic conclusion than merely steady. I generally dislike or not too interest in repetitive music, but adding the visual aspects enhanced my appreciation of Kerry Andrew's Who we are. Tribal dance like choreography and using hand gestures gave a physical musical expression than just a conventional stand still singing posture, but still equally sophisticated and intriguing presentation of the music.
Inevitably, Cantoría Hong Kong had a lot to live up after such a strong start, and their singing was fairly presentable despite a smaller group and varied technical ability. They gave a polished and pleasant account of the Monteverdi madrigals alike one experienced at choral evensong. It would be better if the vowels could sustain longer and unify, adopt a quicker tempo and has more direction in the singing. Tenors sometimes lacked vocal body in their singing that affected the support of energy in sustaining the momentum. Intonation improved and better ensembleship in Debussy's chansons with reinforcement from the NYCGB fellowship octet, but diction occasionally sounded more Latin than French. Alto solo had a beautiful timbre with the right colour and projection at the intimate second movement. A slightly messy entrance of the third movement but rectified for a dramatic conclusion with good musical phrasing. The ensemble sounded more at home in Latin during Gjeilo's Unicornis Captivatur, and sopranos' singing were more flexible to shape the music. They successfully built up the momentum from the tender opening towards the first climatic 'alleluia'. Though the produced tone in the second section was not always radiant and tenors sometimes risking to go flat. Tempo also dragged along and the built up from lower voices seems lacking direction until the final alleluia for the energetic coda.
I had not come across William Mathia's The May Magnificat until this highly convincing performance by NYCGB and what a discovery. Harmonically complex with a muscular bright tone throughout. The first choir sang the colourful English text alternated with the second in Latin. The full choir again displayed itself as a highly disciplined body with rhythmic precision, sustained the vocal energy throughout and observed the dynamic contrast faithfully. Diction was bright and homogenous to let the music to ring in a radiant sound. In turn, a chamber choir was formed with lesser members without conductor to sing the first Elizabethan madrigal of the evening by Morley. Voices blended together with the desired vocal support and volume, also there were thoughts in place to phrase the music meaningfully. A septet followed to sing Willbye's madrigal but took time to warm up their voices and adjusted before complimenting each other. Sopranos were pushing the pitch very sharp and even overpowering in the third madrigal as tribute to the monarch by Weelkes. Though never feel too heavy even the full choir involved and rarely a big group could sound so well in polyphony works.
Alleluia by James Rose sounded rather similar to the compositional style of Gabriel Jackson for bright long vowel and illuminated sound landscape. The full choir and octet successfully in built up gradually the long wordless crescendo up to the ultimate climax. Very bright vowels again in the Chinese folksongs but I did not find the words easy to identify. Good momentum and intonation even the tempo was on the broad side. There was a sense of proudness when Star of the County Down was sung, also the group loosen up allowing the music to swing. An emotional and tender closing was chosen instead to finish the superlative evening with a Scottish fervour by MacMillan's The Gallant Weaver. The sweet melody was given a twist and as ever the choir maintained good intonation in the final conclusion.
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