SOME MIGHTY IMPRESSIVE VOICES
The Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles (GMCLA) are presenting A Mighty Voice, and there is only one performance left to attend. A dazzlingly well-written review should be inserted here, and hopefully will for posterity. But because of time constraints, and since there’s only one performance left, we have to make this more in the spirit of a blog than a review.
I have seen GMCLA many times over the last few half-decades, and I’m usually happy that I went. But with A Mighty Voice, they have made the leap from Really Good Local Gay Men’s Chorus to World Class Gay Men’s Chorus. Delightful as past performances have been, don’t expect a rendition of Billy Joel’s “The Longest Time” or a bona-fide Diva guest singer like Jennifer Holliday. Under the guidance of guest conductor Cristian Grases, they are delving into more serious, sophisticated, and meditative terrain.
At the end of Act I, impressed as I was, I worried that they had alienated a large portion of the audience, and that said alienated audience might not return for years to come. Certainly the work has never been as demanding of both the performers and the spectators in any of the concerts I’ve seen. But by the end of the evening, it was clear that the rest of the audience was in agreement that we had witnessed something extraordinary. The demands placed on all concerned paid off handsomely.
Slow down your mind from the excesses of the Twittersphere and break through the barriers of your Attention Deficit Disorder. The evening starts deliciously slow, builds in layered complexity, ends with breathless and mesmerizing exhilaration, and rides out an encore of pure, unadulterated pleasure. People who know more about music might be able to tell you why it’s so stirring; leave the analysis for them. Go and wallow in the pure bliss of human voices reaching new heights.
PROGRAM:
Z. R. STROOPE Amor de mi Alma
FRANZ BIEBL Ave Maria
FELIX MENDELSSOHN Beati Mortui
AARON DALE Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel
T. L. VICTORIA Duo Seraphim
JOEL MARTINSON Everyone Sang
FELIX MENDELSSOHN Festgesang an die Künstler
R. BASS Gloria
CARL ORFF In Taberna
ANTONIO ESTEVEZ La Sombra Salió del Monte
ANTON BRUCKNER Locus Iste
LIBRE VERMELL Mariam Matrem
FRANZ SCHUBERT Nachthelle
LIBRE VERMELL O Virgo Splendens
FRANCIS POULENC Seigneur, Je Vous En Prie
S. ROBINOVITCH Sensemayá
FAVERO/SUND Te Quiero
A Mighty Voice
Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles
Los Angeles Theatre Center, 501 South Spring St
ends on March 27, 2011
for tickets, visit GMCLA
