New Century Chamber Orchestra and the San Francisco Girls Chorus present Holiday Favorites
2014-12-18
First Congregational Church
2345 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA
8:00 PM, Thursday, December 18, 2014

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• Handel: Entrance of the Queen of Sheba from Solomon
• Corelli: Concerto Grosso in G Minor, Op. 6, No.8, “Christmas Concerto”
• Vivaldi: The Four Seasons: Winter, featuring Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, soloist
• Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No.3
• Traditional: Medley of Christmas Carols
• John Rutter: Nativity Carol
• Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart: Engel Gottes Kunden
• Handel (arr: Assad): excerpt from Messiah: Unto us a child is born, Hallelujah

[8:04 PM lights down]

1. [8:05 PM] Georg Frideric Handel (1685-1759): Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, Overture to Act III of the Solomon oratorio, (1748), HWV 67, performed by NCCO

Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713): Concerto Grosso in G Minor, Op. 6, No. 8, (ca. 1690), Fatto per la Note di Natale (Made for Christmas Night) AKA Christmas Concerto, performed by NCCO

1. [8:09 PM] Vivace – Grave. Arcate, sostenuto e come stà
2. [8:13 PM] Allegro
3. [8:14 PM] Adagio – Allegro – Adagio
4. [8:16 PM] Vivace
5. [8:17 PM] Allegro
6. [8:m PM] Largo
   [work ends 8:24 PM]

1. [8:24 PM] Cesar Antonovich Cui (1835-1918): Radiant Stars, excerpted from Six Choruses, Op. 53, No. 4,
   original Russian text from a poem by Mikhail Lermontov (1814–1841), English text by Miriam Chase, performed by the San Francisco Girls Chorus
   [work ends 8:28 PM]

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958): Winter from Folksongs of the Four Seasons (1949), performed by the San Francisco Girls Chorus, accompanied by NCCO

1. [8:28 PM] Children’s Christmas Song (Yorkshire Wassail)
2. [8:32 PM] Wassail Song
3. [8:34 PM] In Bethlehem City
4. [8:37 PM] God Bless the Master
   [work ends 8:41 PM]

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678-1741): Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297, L'inverno (Winter), from Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons), (ca. 1720)
performed by NCCO, featuring Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, soloist

1. [8:43 PM] Allegro non molto
2. [8:46 PM] Largo
3. [8:48 PM] Allegro
   [set ends 8:51 PM]

[9:15 PM lights down]

1. [9:16 PM] Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart (1791-1844): Engel Gottes künden (God's Angels Announce), Weihnachtslied (1825), performed by the San Francisco Girls Chorus, accompanied by NCCO

1. [9:20 PM] John Rutter (b. 1945): Nativity Carol (1967), performed by the San Francisco Girls Chorus, accompanied by NCCO

[doh! shoulda been making notes here!]

1. [9:25 PM] ?
2. [9:26 PM] ? Carol of the Bells
3. [9:28 PM] ? Silent Night
4. [9:29 PM] ?
5. [9:33 PM] ?
   [work ends 9:35 PM]

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Brandenburg Concerto No.3 in G major, BWV 1048 (ca 1720), performed by NCCO

1. [9:36 PM] Allegro
2. [9:42 PM] Adagio
3. [9:45 PM] Allegro
   [work ends 9:46 PM]

Georg Frideric Handel (1685-1759): Two selections from the Messiah oratorio, (1741),
arranged ca. 2008 by Clarice Assad (b. 1978), performed by NCCO and San Francisco Girls Chorus

1. [9:46 PM] For unto us a child is born, from Part I
2. [9:50 PM] Hallelujah, from Part II
   [set ends 9:53 PM]

1. [9:53 PM] Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, arranged by Evan Price, performed by NCCO
2. [9:55 PM] We Wish You a Merry Christmas, performed by the San Francisco Girls Chorus
   [show ends 9:59 PM; applause, all off at 10:02 PM]

• Hrabba Atladottir: first violin;
• Kathleen Balfe: cello;
• Robin Bonnell: cello;
• Jennifer Cho: second violin;
• Michelle Djokic: acting principal cello;
• Marcel Gemperli: viola;
• Candace Guirao: principal second violin;
• Dawn Harms: assistant concertmaster, first violin;
• Anna Kruger: principal viola;
• Robin Mayforth: first violin;
• Isaac Melamed: cello;
• Emily Onderdonk: viola;
• Jeremy Preston: second violin;
• Deborah Tien Price: second violin;
• Cassandra Lynne Richburg: viola;
• Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg: concertmaster, music director, first violin;
• Karen Shinozaki Sor: first violin;
• Iris Stone: first violin;
• Sarah Usher: second violin;
• Mark Wallace: acting principal contrabass.

• Sofia Elena Alekna: soprano II vox;
• Sarah Ancheta: soprano II vox;
• Lisa Bielawa: artistic director, choirmaster;
• Shayna Bomfim-Finkelstein: soprano I vox;
• Clara Cagney: alto I vox;
• Livia Camperi: alto II vox;
• Audrey Chandler: alto I vox;
• Isabela Colmenar: soprano II vox;
• Alison Dart: alto II vox;
• Mia David: soprano I vox;
• Emma Dean: alto I vox;
• Lucy Downes: soprano II vox;
• Rachel Durney: alto I vox;
• Elisabeth Easton: alto II vox;
• Charlotte Ensley: soprano II vox;
• Anna Gray: alto I vox;
• Maya Greenhill: soprano II vox;
• Noemie Hamker: soprano I vox;
• Glenna Harris: alto II vox;
• Arianna Hee: soprano II vox;
• Phoebe Hicks: soprano I vox;
• Evie Hidysmith: alto II vox;
• Kathleen Isaza: soprano II vox;
• Katherine Jonckheer: alto I vox;
• Cecilia Kakehashi: soprano I vox;
• Caroline Kunkel: soprano II vox;
• Erin lchimura: alto II vox;
• Hannah Liu: alto I vox;
• Gwyneth Luhmann: soprano II vox;
• Emma MacKenzie: soprano I vox;
• Margaret Martin: alto I vox;
• Lola Miller-Henline: alto II vox;
• Elise Mills: alto I vox;
• Ella Nelson: soprano I vox;
• Sarah Ng: soprano II vox;
• Leah Ofman: alto II vox;
• Alessandra Peek: soprano II vox;
• Natalie Pierce: alto I vox;
• Emma Powell: soprano II vox;
• Isabelle Rim: soprano II vox;
• Valerie Sainte-Agathe: musical director, principal conductor;
• Caroline Sloan: soprano I vox;
• Katherine Sowerwine: soprano I vox;
• Nia Caiani Spaulding: alto II vox;
• Renée Theodore: alto II vox;
• Darya Verzhbinsky: soprano II vox;
• Juliana Iluminata Wilczynski: alto I vox;
• Viola Yasuda: alto I vox.

Somewhat detailed program notes have been posted at the NCCO website, however, they fail to list the carols from the medley, which I recognized, but didn't bother writing down – doh! – Carol of the Bells (AKA Ring, Christmas Bells) was in there, as was Silent Night – but I guess I wasn't really paying attention, since I don't recall any of the rest! Likewise, I didn't note what was played for the encore. Yo soy en idiota‼ This lack of attention – due no doubt in part to my distaste for Christmas music – is likely also manifested in numerous timing mistakes. I certainly can't promise that what is given above is correct, but it's probably close, since the timestamps seemed to match reasonably well to the number of tunes.

The evening started with NCCO marching onstage and standing briefly at attention, then launching into a furiously-paced performance of Arrival of the Queen of Sheba. Quite bracing! Then the players sat down, and the show continued with Corelli's “Christmas Concerto” – also performed in a pretty lively fashion, though slower when called for by the composer's tempo markings. This introductory section finished, we next heard the voices of the San Francisco Girls Chorus coming from the back of the church, then closer, as the girls filed down the inner and outer aisles in row long columns, stopping to sing for a few moments from the middle of the hall before continuing onto the risers at the back of the stage for the conclusion of the work. This bit of choreography made for interesting listening, but the clatter of their shoes as the girls climbed to the stage and then up onto the risers was pretty distracting. In retrospect, I think that part should have happened after finishing the first work, or during a prolonged pause, as it really disrupted the musical flow. During the following set of Vaughan Williams folksongs, the NCCO added simple accompaniment, but laid out entirely in one of the sections – Bethlehem City? Again, I regret to inform the reader that I was not paying enough attention to be sure that detail is correct. To close the first set, Nadja assumed the role of featured soloist and stood up at center stage to lead the NCCO through an electric reading of Vivaldi's Winter concerto. The fury of the sawing strings certainly evoked pouring rain for me, and it was a delight to see and hear Nadja's swooping runs on this piece.

I thought the second set started off a bit slowly. The F.X.W. Mozart cantata that set us off was only mildly interesting, and the following sets of carols did little to engage my attention (though that's really just evidence of my baggage rather than a hit against the performance). As with the other instrumental sections of tonight's concert, the Brandenburg seemed to be take at lightning pace. Great for emphasizing virtuosity; not so much for showing off the refinement and lucidly constructed inner parts of Bach's great piece of work. Anyone still reading by this point will not be surprised to hear that the remainder of the show was a gliss for me. I enjoyed hearing the two Handel excerpts, though by now I was beginning to tire of the chorus' over-emphasis on high parts – not that I expected to hear 14-year old female tenors or bass-baritones, but my ear was beginning to rebel, and I suppose I might have been using my imagination to fill in some of the missing lower register parts!

Georgia Rowe, who may have been sitting next to me at the show, posted a nice review for the Mercury News. Stephen Smoliar attended the following gig in San Francisco, posting his review for the Examiner. Interestingly, though the three of us seem to have somewhat divergent opinions about the show's highlights, it looks like none of us thought it important to note which carols were performed in the second-set medley, hah!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2014 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2014 event list! ☸ On to the next event!