M loves choral performances, so a full performance of Mozart's Mass was very enticing, regardless of the fact that neither of us have any religious persuasions, or even any catholic history. Last year's scheduled performance was postponed as it was felt that the choristers were not ready. There was a change in choir (now the Opera Africa choir) and soloists from Opera Africa; the only thing missing was a full blown organ (the orchestra had an electronic organ I think). It was a brilliant performance, with the soprano Kelebogile Boikanyo being particularly impressive. One change I would make in the program though - include the text and translation in the program!
In addition to the choral mass, the first part of the program featured Berio's Rendering for Orchestra. Based on Schubert's uncompleted 10th symphony, it was different to JPO's usual fare - more eerie (perhaps gearing up for Halloween), slow and rather unenergetic. I didn't really like it, but can't really work out why.
No comments:
Post a Comment