I am usually loth to do concert reviews if I lack a more hardcore person and experienced ear to discuss the concert with, but I'm bored and so will talk briefly about the ones I went to on Thursday and Friday. Both were a last minute thing - I only knew I was going for them less than 40 hours before they started, which made gathering a mighty host difficult.

***

Artyfakt Cantate Series No. 3 - Christmas Music from Germany and France
by Colibri Chamber Singers, Common Voices, Temasek Polytechnic Choir, Artyfakt Consort and 5 soloists whose names I am lazy to type out

Works performed:
JL Bach - Uns ist ein kind geboren
JS Bach - Nun komm, der heiden heiland
Camille Saint-Saens - Oratorio del Noel

Although I was seated at the right side of the stage, and slightly behind the string ensemble, having come in just on time due to underestimating traffic, the acoustics of the church were good enough for me to hear the performance well, though sadly I couldn't hear the MCs' commentary.

The choir had a great deal of creativity - within the constraints of the dress code, they managed to squeeze in possibly the greatest number of variations on a black dress code in one place that I've ever seen.

There were fewer PRCs among the soloists than I expected. Even though I haven't been to all that many performances by local groups with soloists, for some reason I expected 1/2 of them to be PRC (only 1/3 were).

The blend of the choir and string ensemble was quite good, but I heard something I haven't for a while - the strains of Sopranos when trying to hit high notes just out of their reach. Otherwise, there were the usual minor mistakes from the performers here and there, but nothing noteworthy. The German and Latin enunciation sounded crisp, especially considering that Singaporeans in general tend to be bad at such (maybe it's only the student choirs).

I was impressed with the alto soloist. Perhaps this is because it's hard to deliver a distinctive and memorable alto, but the soloist managed to pull it off (during the one aria [IIRC] she had). [Addendum: I thought I heard funny noises from the other female soloists at one or two points, but wasn't sure. A mysterious source's anonymous source confirms my suspicions, though.] Meanwhile, the baritone's singing was a touch too thick, but for some reason most examples of such performances feature thick singing (there probably is a better word, but I forgot), perhaps because it carries well.

I am usually leery of organ accompaniment, as it tends to muffle the finer parts of the other sections' performance. This effect was not in evidence, though whether this was due to the nature of the orchestration, the skill of the organist or the quality of the organ, I do not know.

Unfortunately, the duet and trio during the Saint-Saens oratorio were accompanied by piano. It seems the accompaniment was originally scored for harp. Ah well.

Even if the performance had been very bad, you couldn't beat the price, especially considering that there was a string ensemble and organ thrown in and that a cantata and an oratorio (albeit short ones) were performed in their entireties. I am not familiar with the pieces performed, so I cannot comment further.

***

RenaISsancE *2* 2005
by the Raffles Institution String Ensemble (and friends)

Works performed:
Mendelssohn - Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream Op 21
Mendelssohn - Violin Concerto in E minor Op 64
Rodrigo - Concerto De Aranjuez
Prokofiev - Symphony No. 1 in D major "Classical" Op 25

I only scribbled some notes the day after the concert, so they are necessarily brief.

The 2 soloists were great, managing to make their instruments sing without playing too ostentatiously (even the 16 year old playing for the Mendelssohn), but they were let down by the orchestra. There seemed to be something wrong with the brass, as it sounded squeaky, and the violins weren't together (and sounded squeaky too). It's a secondary school student ensemble, and there looked to be Secondary 1s performing, so I don't ask for much, but at one part I was even cringing.

The orchestra improved towards the end, however - maybe they finally warmed up.