Holy Schmitt! Choral Arts thrills with Schmitt's Psalm 47

By Phillip Nones, 19 May 2019

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Reviewed at Kennedy Center: Concert Hall, Washington on 19 May 2019

Fauré, Requiem, Op.48

Saint-Saëns, Sarabande for string orchestra, Op.93

Boulanger, Psalm 24: La terre appartient à l'Eternel

Schmitt, Psalm 47 "Gloire du Seigneur", Op.38

The Choral Arts Society of Washington

Trevor Scheunemann, Baritone

Scott Tucker, Conductor

Alexandria Shiner, Soprano

Laura Choi Stuart, Soprano

Julie Huang Tucker, Organ

An opening concert of contrasts in Washington DC

David Rohde, 3rd October

A good audience turnout for the opening of Noseda's third NSO season justifies an all-20th-century program centering on Carl Orff's popular and direct setting of medieval poems about real life and fate, but also presenting gentler works of religious reflection.

****1

A dynamic Carmina Burana at Wolf Trap

Phillip Nones, 28th July

Torrential downpours and the croaking of consumptive frogs fail to dampen spirits at Wolf Trap's National Symphony Orchestra concert featuring pianist Seong-Jin Cho, JoAnn Falletta and a massive community chorus.

****1

Sprawling Mahler 3 at the Kennedy

Hilary Stroh, 5th November

Big moments, largely conceived, but somewhat lacking in overall unity.

***11

Summer migration for Emerging Artists at Wolf Trap

Hilary Stroh, 7th August

Emerging talent to watch in Wolf Trap's summer production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

Rob Kapilow Gives Mozart’s Requiem a New Vision

Raisa Massuda, 10th April

A strong believer in music speaking for itself, I have always been quite skeptical about pre-concert presentations. In my opinion, play the music and let the audience enjoy it.On Sunday afternoon I was less than excited to hear that Mozart’s Requiem presented by Washington Performing Arts Society would be previewed in a 45-minute presentation by NPR music commentator Rob Kapilow.

Aleksandra Kurzak impresses as the Met’s new Violetta

Ako Imamura, 10th January

Michael Mayer’s colorful and busy production of La traviata returned to the Met with a triumphant performance of the title role by soprano Aleksandra Kurzak.

****1

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Phillip Nones

Phillip Nones studied piano from age six, also playing percussion in educational and civic groups before moving to a rural area of the USA in 1990, where performance opportunities were few. Recently he has started performing again, participating in “side-by-side” orchestra performances and playing percussion in the World Doctors' Orchestra. His personal collection of music includes over 5,000 classical albums in all formats (CDs, LPs, 78s), plus downloads. In his professional life, he heads up a marketing communications firm in the state of Maryland. He blogs about the French composer Florent Schmitt here.

Holy Schmitt! Choral Arts Society of Washington thrills with Schmitt's Psalm 47