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Archives from 2006 - 2007 Season

Heavenly voices

Lewiston Sun Journal
Tuesday, April 3, 2007

His outburst unleashed a cavalcade of worthy applause, as the crowded basilica had been treated to a remarkable cultural display, one which highlighted the talent prevalent in Lewiston-Auburn from the united voices of Lewiston and Edward Little high schools, Bates College and the Androscoggin Chorale.

They meshed beautifully, and L-A should eagerly await their next collaboration.

A Celebration of Spring: Vivaldi Gloria and other Songs of Joy

By Christopher Hyde
Portland Press Herald
June 6, 2006

The Androscoggin Chorale, conducted by John Corrie, gave a warm and pleasant welcome to spring Sunday afternoon before a large audience at Lewiston-Auburn's Franco-American Heritage Center. The concert was also a lesson in the virtue of simplicity.

The most moving work on the program was a simple harmonic setting of Robert Burns' "My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose," by contemporary American composer James Mulholland. The settings of Robert Bridges poems by Gerald Finzi were also well done with "Clear and Gentle Stream" capturing the pleasant, flowing melancholy of the verses.

Still, the difference between Burns and Bridges as poets is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug, to use Mark Twain's comparison of the right word and the almost right word.

As usual, Cole Porter came out on top among popular American composers in a nice Latin-flavored arrangement of "In the Still of the Night". George Gershwin's great "Summertime" didn't have a chance, in an arrangement that dragged and ended in an up-and-down siren wail that set a new low in gussied-up choral awfulness.

The Rogers and Hart "My Romance" also suffered from an overly fancy arrangement, but included a good, understated duet by Karen Chapman and Rick Rau.

Aside from the Cole Porter tune, the liveliest and most enjoyable selection was Rogers and Hammerstein's "It's a Grand Night for Singing.", in rapid waltz tempo. It should be noted that all of the American works were sung by the chorale with skill and enthusiasm, no matter who wrote the arrangements.

The first half of the program was devoted to the Vivaldi "Gloria in D", a long but cheerful work whose performance had both high and low points.

The chorale seemed more at home with the more straightforward "The Heavens are Telling" from Haydn's oratorio "The Creation". Corrie emphasized the unusual instrumental hiatus in this movement, which spotlights the soloists in a way that Beethoven appropriated in the Ninth Symphony. All of the accompanied works on the program relied on the considerable talents of pianist Bridget Convey.

Particularly impressive were the a cappella madrigals by Purcell and Morley. Except for some minor miscues in the rapid "fa la la" section of the Purcell, the intricate part-singing was much clearer than is usual in arrangements for large chorus. The bass section, however, still needs a little strengthening.

The program ended with a Fantasy on "America the Beautiful" by Maurice C. Whitney that earned a standing ovation in spite of being a little overblown.

One wonders how many audience members had also heard the satirical Joan Tower deconstruction of the same song played at the center just a couple of weeks ago by the Midcoast Symphony Orchestra. The difference was rather striking.

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