Andrew Parrott B Minor Mass

Dear Tuning List,

I attended an outstanding performance last night at the Barclay Theater
in Irvine by the San Francisco based Philharmonia baroque Orchestra
conducted by Andrew Parrott doing Bach's B Minor Mass. Wow what an
interpretation. Really what I would call a barebones ensemble yet
achieving everything the piece has to offer. It was an acoustic marvel.

The set up and the vocal production were unique. The tempos, really
fast. He had the 5 soloist up front, looking at the stage they were on
the right. The choir was divided into two groups so that you were
hearing the four voices coming from both the right and the left. These
were considerably reduced voices so the effect was stunning. Four
sopranos total, two altos, two tenors and two basses. The clarity was
outstanding and you didn't lose anything. That was the surprising
result. And as I recall, the two sopranos didn't stand side by side. I

think it was arranged so that the alto stood in between the two
sopranos. So when you heard, say for instance, the tenor entrance, the
fact that you had two tenor voices coming at you in stereo made up for
the fact that there were only two tenors instead of say five to eight
grouped together.

What a tight group. The vocal production was interesting too. They
seemed to sing out of the sides of their mouths like they were caressing

every note, like when you are pronouncing a language extra carefully.
So obviously diction was of the highest importance. But this lent a
special advantage to the performance, where the text really shines.

And the tempos were amazingly fast, especially in the solos. Yet when
the soloist entered, the movement didn't seem so fast. And when the
last movement finally arrived, the full sound of the orchestra and choir

just rang out making complete sense of the whole effort, because the
sound was absolutely satisfying.

If the group heads your way, the $35 ticket price is well worth it.
They said at the cd stand in the foyer that Andrew Parrott has a cd out
of the B Minor Mass (he conducts the Tavener Consort) and is available
on the uk version of amazon.com which I think they said was
amazonuk.com.

The valveless French horn of course was a real treat.

Yours,
Rick

--- In tuning@y..., Rick Tagawa <ricktagawa@e...> wrote:
> I attended an outstanding performance last night at the Barclay
> Theater in Irvine by the San Francisco based Philharmonia baroque
> Orchestra conducted by Andrew Parrott doing Bach's B Minor Mass.

Sounds great, Rick. The PBO is really a wonderful ensemble, from what
I've heard on a number of recordings (they have a great Handel "Judas
Maccabaeus"); their founding conductor, Nicholas McGegan, conducted
the San Diego Symphony last season, and it was truly a joyous and
fresh music-making experience. I'm hoping we'll have him back again
in the future.

I second the motion to check them out if they come to a town near
you...

Cheers,
Jon