{"id":59422,"date":"2019-03-18T17:33:46","date_gmt":"2019-03-18T21:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=59422"},"modified":"2019-03-19T09:58:06","modified_gmt":"2019-03-19T13:58:06","slug":"on-the-road-with-one-voice-leipzig-opera-chorus-in-concert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2019\/03\/18\/on-the-road-with-one-voice-leipzig-opera-chorus-in-concert\/","title":{"rendered":"ON THE ROAD | The Leipzig Opera Chorus Make The Most Of Being Front And Centre"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Leipzig
Leipzig Opera Chorus (Photo: Courtesy Hong Kong Arts Festival)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chor der Oper Leipzig In Concert: Selections from Nabucco, Die Zauberfl<\/em>\u00f6te, Carmen, Eugene Onegin, Lohengrin, Der fliegende Holl<\/em>\u00e4nder, Faust, Macbeth, Die Meistersinger von N<\/em>\u00fcrnberg, Der Freisch<\/em>\u00fctz. Thomas Eitler-de Lint, Chorusmaster; Alexander Stessin, piano. Concert Hall, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, March 3, 2019.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

The centrepiece of the visit of Oper Leipzig to the 2019 Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF) was undoubtedly Calixto Bieito\u2019s controversial production of Wagner\u2019s Tannhauser<\/em>, which I recently reviewed<\/a>. That said, not to be forgotten was the concert featuring the excellent Chor der Oper Leipzig, on March 3. It took place in the acoustically wonderful, theatre-in-the-round Concert Hall, adjacent to the Grand Theatre.<\/p>\n

The concert hall was sold out. If it doesn\u2019t look that way in the photo, it\u2019s because the seats behind the chorus were not put up for sale, the right decision, given that the sound there would be much diminished. The HKAF audience got a chance to really hear what the superb Leipzig Opera Chorus could do, front and centre, in a program full of choral chestnuts.<\/p>\n

These 70 men and women are the unsung heroes and heroines of the Company. They continue a lineage that is nearly 202 years old, as the Chor der Oper Leipzig celebrated its bicentennial in November 2017. That makes it even older than the cross-town \u201crival,\u201d the Gewandhauschor that\u2019s part of the legendary Gewandhausorchester, which is merely 150 years old! I write that with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek\u2026<\/p>\n

The evening opened with \u201cGli arredi festivi\u201d from Nabucco,<\/em> one of two well known choral pieces from the Verdi opera, the other being \u201cVa. pensiero.\u201d \u201cGli arredi\u201d is a rousing piece, showing off the power and volume of the 70-strong chorus. They produced a big sound, but never forced or harsh. This was followed by the subtler \u201cO Isis und Osiris\u201d from Die Zauberfl<\/em>\u00f6te.<\/em> All male voices, and they achieved an enviable homogeneity of sound found only in the best choruses.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, two members of the chorus stepped forward to serve as co-MCs of the evening \u2014 American mezzo Reba Evans, a new member, and Chinese-American tenor Michael Chu, a veteran in his 26th<\/sup> season with Chor Leipzig. \u00a0Engaging and charming, they introduced the pieces, but also spoke about their personal experiences of what it\u2019s like living and working in Germany as foreigners, adding a nice human interest touch to the evening.<\/p>\n

Lots of highlights \u2014 in my book, their best work of the evening were the Wagner pieces. \u00a0\u201cTreulich gef\u00fchrt\u201d from Lohengrin<\/em> was lovely, as were the two selections from Act Three Die Meistersinger<\/em>. No wonder, Leipzig being the birthplace of Wagner, his works are front and centre every season.\u00a0 A piece like Lohengrin\u2019s Wedding March they probably can sing in their sleep!\u00a0 Also outstanding was the Sailors\u2019 chorus from Der fiegende Holl<\/em>\u00e4nder<\/em>, delivered with the requisite energy and authority.<\/p>\n

While the pianist Alexander Stessin did a terrific job, I won\u2019t pretend that I didn\u2019t miss the orchestra.\u00a0 When it comes to opera choruses, nothing can replace an orchestra to make the necessary aural and dramatic impact. With piano accompaniment, it comes across as sounding like a rehearsal, frankly. This being a stand-and-sing evening, it was weird to see the ladies, a few of them are, shall I say, of a certain age, dressed in formal concert attire, trying to sound coquettish in the Cigarette Girls\u2019 Chorus from Carmen<\/em>! Without the staging, something is missing.<\/p>\n

There were a few surprises. In the Chorus of Gypsies from La Traviata<\/em>, a couple of choristers contributed a duet, nicely sung. The only work in the program totally unfamiliar to me was something called Parodie auf eine Opernszene, \u201cInsalata Italiana\u201d<\/em> by Austrian librettist\/composer Richard Gen\u00e9e (1823-1895). Sung a capella<\/em>, this funny piece allowed the chorus to ham it up for laughs, and the audience faithfully lapped it all up, never mind it\u2019s a bit corny and cheesy.<\/p>\n

Three encores were given. The first was the previously mentioned \u201cVa, pensiero,\u201d at one time the unofficial Italian national anthem, and practically an obligatory item for an opera chorus concert. Then something sounding vaguely Asian was given. It took me much intense listening to figure out they were singing in Mandarin! \u00a0Very nice of the Leipzig Chorus to take the trouble of learning a Chinese piece phonetically, despite the less than idiomatic Mandarin diction!<\/p>\n

The third encore was the finale from Die Fledermaus<\/em>. Here the chorus really let its collective hair down. Three ladies came forward to sing Rosalinda, Adele, and Orlofsky. My concert companions were less than thrilled with the solo singing, but I won\u2019t repeat the adjectives used. Yes, they are choristers, not soloists. But they sang musically, even if they got slightly carried away, in their chance to be front and centre. And they were having fun \u2014 the finale was even encored. Not the last word in mellifluous vocal production, but it was from the heart. That\u2019s good enough for me.<\/p>\n

LUDWIG VAN TORONTO<\/i>
\n<\/b><\/h3>\n

Want more updates on classical music news and reviews? Follow us on\u00a0<\/i>Facebook<\/i><\/u><\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>or\u00a0<\/i>Twitter<\/i><\/u><\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>for all the latest.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Leipzig Opera Chorus is not the last word in mellifluous vocal production, but it was from the heart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":59424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[25164,19,52],"tags":[27514,27734],"yst_prominent_words":[19446,27723,27717,27716,6813,11811,27724,27718,27721,27719,7972,27499,27498,27501,27500,27489,27725,27720,27482,27722],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/Leipzig-Opera-Chorus.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-fsq","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59422"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59422"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59435,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59422\/revisions\/59435"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59422"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=59422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}