Bach: Ein feste Burg, S. 80Mozart: Vesperae de dominica, K. 321Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms
Music, of course, was the most important ingredient Saturday evening when the Bloomington Chamber Singers offered their spring program of works by Bach, Mozart, Stravinsky and Samuel Barber, a program appropriately labeled "Pure Genius."
But numbers couldn't be ignored. The concert served to mark the ensemble's 35 years of existence, its 18th under current music director Gerald Sousa. It attracted an audience that came very close to filling the spacious new sanctuary of the Evangelical Community Church, meaning it must have attracted one of the choir's largest gathering of listeners ever.
On the back cover of the printed program, one read: "35 years … 167 concerts … 630 members … 2,863 donors … 1,000s of words … 1,000,000s of notes … 1 goal: Sing Great Music." And great music most certainly was sung: on this occasion by the 60 current members of the BCS, assisted by an orchestral ensemble nearly as large. Fifteen former Chamber Singers were in the audience. And to one loyal member, Austin Caswell, who died March 1, the concert was dedicated.
Conductor Sousa chose works of challenge and bracing contrast to show off the courage and achievements of his singers. In the process, he proved once more how effective a teacher he is, so capable of coaxing more than the best out of his crew, diverse individuals with varying backgrounds and talents, most of them part-timers as musicians but united by a love of song.
Sousa opened with one of Bach's most admired cantatas, No. 80, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God," built on the Martin Luther hymn. The chorus sang with confidence and needed power. The orchestra played in complementary fashion. Four soloists - one, alto Julie Grindle, from within the ranks of the chorus - added to the luster of the performance. Bass Michael Weyandt, tenor Daniel Shirley and soprano Angelique Zuluaga, all now studying their craft at IU, completed the quartet, and each seemed to have the measure of Bach's sometimes dangerously embellished line.
The three from the Music School returned for further duties in Mozart's "Vesperae sollenes de Dominica," joined this time by another Chamber Singer, alto Susan Sullivan. This six-movement vesper, inspired by Psalm 109, contains gorgeous material that, in turn, seemed to inspire Sousa's collected throng. The chorus sang resolutely and resonantly. The soloists were fully up to the task. Soprano Zuluaga, in the work's "Laudate Dominum," contributed as stunning a sample of free-floating, unfettered and yet beautifully controlled vocalization as this reviewer has heard in quite a while.
A choral version of Barber's popular, gentle Adagio for Strings, using traditional words from the Agnus Dei in the mass, was performed with rapturous tones. That made transition to the contrapuntal, effusive "Symphony of Psalms" by Stravinsky even more dramatic. Saturday's reading of this bold piece, deftly balancing its distinctive choral and instrumental elements, proved nothing short of praiseworthy.
Let it be said that at 35, hurray, the BCS is in exceptionally good form.
