Blog

.. it was an opportunity to experience the talents of the Chorus performing on their own. (about Ligeti)

... In wunderschönen Texten, vom niederländischen Telegraphenamt und von den niederländischen Kolonien in Indonesien, kommuniziert eine holländische Mutter mit ihrem Kind in Java mit Hilfe von früher Technologie - die Distanz wundersam überbrückt, im Prozess aber auch übertrieben. Der San Francisco Symphoniechor intoniert liebevoll die Texte, die Organist Paul Jacobs mit Dröhnen unterstreicht. ...

... Thursday's program, part of the American Mavericks Festival, opened with an even graver disappointment, the premiere of Mason Bates' commissioned "Mass Transmission." Scored for chorus, organ (the expressive Paul Jacobs) and electronica, this offers a meditation on communications technology, I guess, with texts based on the first experiences of ordinary Europeans with early 20th century wireless radio. The premise is evocative, but the texts themselves are drab ("So good to hear your voice. I miss you mum!"), and Bates' settings opt for bland pop harmonies and equally bland choral textures. The result, even in a seamless performance conducted by Donato Cabrera, was tissue-thin. ...

... yet another grand performance by the orchestra and an unforgettable one by Ragnar Bohlin's brilliant SFS Chorus ... Following the magical, whisper-quiet opening by the Chorus (when did Davies Symphony Hall's acoustics improve this much?), the low strings embracing the first sopranos' angelic sound, there was that difference, nothing major, more a matter of shades. It was a softer, more lyrical, more romantic sound that's the "standard." ... MTT's interpretation, and the glories of the SFS Chorus were in their full flower. ...