The Princeton University Glee Club demonstrated why it is one of the better collegiate choruses in the area on Saturday night with an ambitious program in Richardson Auditorium. For this concert, conductor Richard Tang Yuk selected works of only two composers, but these were composers whose music has been challenging performers for decades.
The University Orchestra has toured extensively, but the Glee Club and its select Chamber Choir do not seem to have performed as much outside the University (although Saturday night's concert was also performed Friday night in Philadelphia). The Chamber Choir in particular would do well to take some of its standard repertoire on the road to conventions and other venues. This tour repertoire could easily include the four Poulenc motets performed on Saturday night. Francis Poulenc composed several sets of motets, and the Quatre Motets Pour un Temps de Pénitence in particular demonstrated Poulenc's merging of old and new compositional styles.
The Glee Club will present its annual Walter L. Nollner commemorative concert on April 22 performing Bach's St. Matthew Passion. Ticket information can be obtained by calling the Richardson box office at (609) 258-5000.
In this performance, the fourteen singers spread over the stage conveyed the homophonic style of the motets with crisp diction and close observance of the impressionistic flows of harmony. The vocal sections were well balanced (it was especially nice to hear the tenors) and throughout the motets, there was a consistent sense of line. The third motet, Tenebrae factae sunt, was the darkest of the four, with the most disjunct harmony, and although the sound was a bit rough at times, the piece ended on an especially clean minor chord. A solid soprano lead by Mary Steffel, well answered by the lower choral sections, introduced the most complex fourth motet with its precise tricky rhythms. These "motets for a time of penitence" were an appropriate choral reflection on the Lenten season to come.
Dr. Tang Yuk moved into a more joyous musical frame of mind with Haydn's Mass in D, more commonly known as the Lord Nelson Mass. Usually performed with orchestra, in this concert the mass was accompanied by the organ, played by Eric Plutz. Mr. Plutz kept a steady organ accompaniment, although the bite of a string orchestra was missing for the opening Kyrie, and it was clear that one could not get the same musical variety from an organ as from orchestral instruments.
Dr. Tang Yuk used student soloists for this performance and soprano Lily Arbisser was kept the busiest by far. Although the fire and drama of the piece probably called for more sound, Ms. Arbisser handled the runs well and really shone in the Et incarnates and Benedictus sections. Alto Clare McNamara was effective in the Agnus Dei (although accompanied by a very bizarre organ registration), and tenor Zaafir Kherani and bass John Travis were successful in rounding out the quartet in solos that were quite substantial for singers this age.
The choral sound was particularly well prepared and precise, and especially full and rich in the Gloria section. In the Credo, Dr. Tang Yuk was clearly looking for a classical elegance in the music, rather than a more declamatory style. Dr. Tang Yuk's choirs are always solid in their knowledge of the music, and this performance, although short, was an example of meticulous attention to detail.
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