Christa Rakich at St. Peter's Catholic Cathedral, May 8, 2009

Rakich opened the program with J.S. Bach's Prelude and Fugue in C, BWV 545, using a rich registration with reeds in the pedal, and articulation well-suited to the live acoustics of St Peter's. A second Bach piece followed, the Sonata #4 in e, BWV 528. Of the various movements, the last - 'Un poc'allegro' - was especially effective. Next was Franz Tunder's 17th century chorale prelude "Komm, heiliger Geist, Herre Gott" ("Come, Holy Ghost, Lord God"). In her comments preceding this, Rakich sang the chorale melody, in a clear and lovely voice, enhanced by the wonderful acoustics of St. Peter's. The piece seemed like a collection of variations - including ornamented, polyphonic, and antiphonal sections - all stitched together into one varied whole. Georg Böhm's "Vater unser in Himmelreich" ("Our father"), with its highly ornamented melody, served to introduce the next piece, Mendelssohn's familiar Sonata in d, Op. 65 #6, in which the same chorale melody ("Vater unser") plays a very important role, appearing in polyphonic passages as well as toccata form with the cantus firmus in the pedal. The closing piece was contemporary composer James Woodson's 'Sonata in Sea: Cape Cod', with three movements: 'Barnstable', 'Wellfleet', and 'Provincetown'. These were tonal, albeit somewhat dissonant. 'Barnstable' began with a thick sound with some lively parts; 'Wellfleet', played mostly on flute stops, was a little lighter and in good contrast to 'Barnstable'. 'Provincetown' drew on the melody 'Melita' ("Eternal Father, Strong to Save") and was big with lots of movement and relatively little dissonance. For an encore Rakich played one of Anton Heiler's variations on "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland" ("Come, now, Savior of the Gentiles"). It was light and very lively and as good a choice for an encore as I can remember. All in all this was a memorable musical evening. We also thank St. Peter's for hosting this program and sharing their jewel of an organ with the community.

- Glenn A. Gentry