The Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus at Mara Hall, July 11, 2006
This concert was generally compelling and emotional, and rewarding to
experience; it dealt, for the most part, with what it means to be Gay or
Lesbian in our modern society. Musically, the style was contemporary, from
easy listening to fairly vigorous, especially when dealing with issues of
intolerance. The chorus sang flawlessly. The diction was excellent, which
is remarkable for so many voices (104). It helped, of course, that the
chorus sang from memory - that allows them to keep their eyes glued onto
the director. The blend and balance between the four parts was also
outstanding. The dynamic range was unusually wide, from ppp to fff, and
the principal accompanist, Timothy DePrey, was exciting, and tracked
the dynamics of the chorus with the piano very closely (it is much more
difficult to play the piano ppp than fff, but he did it). He was
occasionally supplemented by a violin, synthesizer, or clarinet. The
violinist was quite good, but was not near enough to a microphone to be
heard at all times, while the clarinet, on the other hand, was especially
effective. The synthesizer added some sounds which could better have
come from an organ, but none is available in Mara Hall. Synthesizers do
have the advantages of portability and dependability (that is, having
a predictable sound) and can be justified on that basis. There were
solos, comments, and a good serving of humor.
The piano - and sometimes the other instruments - were played for all
the selections. I was waiting for an a capella piece, but
although there were tantalizing bits and pieces, none materialized until
the next-to-last selection, "We shall overcome". The piano started out with
this, but then dropped out, and the chorus finished without it. That allowed
the chorus to "ring" the last chord, which means (in barbershop quartet
parlance), to fine tune the last chord so that the full benefit of "perfect"
tuning is heard (for more on this phenomenon,
Click Here). Further, this
piece also included a small antiphonal choir of 10 voices, located
about halfway back on the lower floor. The impressive sound of the chorus
as a whole, and the antiphonal choir, led me to check the structure that
was on the stage immediately behind the choir. It was a shell with a hard
surface, and its use improved the acoustical environment noticeably (I
have not heard a musical performance in Mara Hall in some time, and so was
pleasantly surprised). At one point I even noticed a slight reverberation!
In any case this was the best choral sound I have heard in Mara Hall. Ever.
The only thing I missed was the classical choral literature - if one or
two pieces could have been included it would have given the chorus a
chance to shine further (I know they sometimes do this, because they
have a CD of a Messiah Sing-Along). Many thanks are due to the director
of the chorus, Stan Hill. I hope to hear this group again, and soon!
-Glenn A. Gentry
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