It is more than three weeks to Christmas Day, and while this choral concert led by British choral conductor Stephen Layton was not sold as a Christmas concert, it had an unmistakably festive feel. Lit up by children’s voices in Baroque and accessible 20th-century music, Christmas had come early this year, like those illuminations on Orchard Road, Singapore’s main shopping drag.
Stealing the show was the Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir (Wong Lai Foon, Choirmaster), its members dressed in Santa Claus red smartly trooping down the aisles with Hodie Christus natus est, the opening unison chorus from Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols. Its silky evenness was a joy to behold, soon outdone by contrapuntal complexities in Wolcum Yole! and echoing effects in This Little Babe and Deo gracias. The short solos, in That yongë child, Balulalow and In the Freezing Winter, were sung with much confidence by sopranos (Ng Yi Poh, Isabelle Ho and Emily Tan) from the choir. Completing the ensemble was SSO principal harpist Gulnara Mashurova, whose sensitive accompaniment and solo Interlude were keenly felt. With the Recession, everyone including harpist and conductor paraded off, leaving the strange sight of an audience enthusiastically applauding an empty stage.
The Singapore premiere of Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Lapsimessu (A Children’s Mass) was the evening’s true revelation. Comprising a Kyrie, Gloria and Agnus Dei, each a cappella movement was followed by string Meditations written in chromatic musical language. This unusual juxtaposition of alternating consonance and dissonance made for a novel listening experience, closing with a starkly beautiful Alleluja, with voices and strings finally united. Soprano Melina Leong shone in the Gloria, but most credit goes to the 50-strong choir for singing this and the Britten completely from memory.
Wedged in between was the familiar Albinoni Adagio in G minor, now established as a 1950s creation of Remo Giazotto adapted from manuscripts of unknown provenance. With no pretence for authenticity, it received a suitably syrupy reading from svelte SSO strings with violin solos by Kevin Lin and Eudenice Palaruan on Victoria Concert Hall’s Klais organ.
The concert’s second half was helmed by the the Singapore Symphony Youth Choir (Wong Lai Foon, Choirmaster) which was marginally less impressive than its junior counterpart but still made a strong impression. In Mozart’s Laudate Dominum from Vesperae Solennes de Confessore (K339), soprano Carine Tan’s lovely solo was accompanied by the gentle lilt of strings, with the chorus’ entry with Gloria Patri making for a rather special moment. Bach’s Jesu bleibet meine freunde from Cantata BWV 147 is none other than the beloved chorale Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring. It received a rather brisk reading with neither sentimentality nor Dame Myra Hess’ smelling of the roses (as in her famous piano transcription) taken into account.
The main show was Vivaldi’s Gloria in D major, RV 589, with the trumpet and two oboes conferring a celebratory dimension. Exultant joy was palpable in Gloria in excelsis Deo and Quoniam tu solus sanctus, balanced by a sense of mystery in the fugal Et in terra pax. Again drawing soloists from the choir, sopranos Giselle Lim and Janelle Tan sang with much clarity in Laudamus te, while soprano Jasmine Towndrow shared the stage with oboist Rachel Walker in the sublime Domine Deus. Most impressive was countertenor Zachary Lim, whose contributions were memorable. Handel’s Messiah will be heard within a fortnight, but this evening’s offerings provided more than adequate seasonal sustenance until then.
