Review of Concert

Boston Bred: The Cantata Singers and Ensemble
Friday, May 13, 2005 and Saturday, May 14, 2005, 8:00 PM
All Saints Parish, Brookline, MA

At the interval during Friday night's concert, Cantata Singers conductor David Hoose was presented the prestigious Ditson Conductors Award for 2005, conferred each year upon a music director who champions American repertoire. It was fitting that this honor was given to Hoose during this event, one dedicated entirely to selections by noteworthy Boston tonemeisters of the last several years.   And the pieces encountered proved most worthy to experience--this was a first-class evening all around.

Two composers now deceased furnished especially strong works.   The Hour-Glass by Irving Fine is vintage mid-century Neoclassicism at its best.   Its wonderfully strong and effective six movements showcase a wide range of sound and mood, ranging from intimate warmth to arresting strength--a vibrantly varied universe that compels.   Shakespeare serves as the catalyst for Donald Sur's last completed opus, Sonnet 97 .   This warm, lovely New Tonalist piece ranks with Sur's best utterances, its understated and seductive surface grounded by consistent use of gently pulsing rhythms and slip-sliding progressions.

The Garland by Marjorie Merryman, a concise setting of Harper Monroe's poem of the same name, infuses its evocative Neoclassic ethos with subtly etched changing meters and a clear narrative curve overlay.   It's excellent to hear.   Even briefer was William Cutter's To See a World , a simple and straightforward piece d'occasion that hints at Stravinsky's choral oeuvre.   It pleased both as curtain raiser and encore.

Invocation shows Charles Fussell infusing Copland-like triadic writing with unexpected, though convincing chord progressions.   Its ABA'B' format is cleverly and cleanly put across, and there's plenty of full-throated, gutsy material packed within its eminently listenable pages.

The work most cantata-like in construction and clangorous in harmonic language encountered tonight was John Harbison's The Flower-Fed Buffaloes .   Concerned with texts that cast a dark look at America 's expansionist ambitions, it's a powerful and thought-provoking opus.   Choral writing here is muscular and straightforward without being simplistic, bolstered by ensemble textures that have presence without swamping the singers.

The choir was excellent through and through, showing a finely disciplined ensemble sense, blended tone quality, and able enunciation.   Baritone soloist David Kravitz sang the second movement of Harbison's piece with a sturdy, resonant voice.   And conductor Hoose led like a champion; his demonstrative direction coaxed every drop of ardor from this talented, eager chorus and its commendable band of accompanying instrumentalists.

While Hoose may have had a prize bestowed upon him Friday evening, it was the audience that proved to be the biggest winners.   Hearty bravos to all concerned.

--David Cleary