Apologies for the lack of posts this week. Besides a just-plain-busy workweek, my evenings filled up with four music rehearsals, a Central Market cooking class, and one spectacularly fun performance…. “Carmina Burana” for the San Antonio Symphony’s 70th anniversary gala.
I do not normally sing with the choir. I joined last August so I could participate in a trip to New York to sing John Rutter’s “Gloria” in Carnegie Hall. (Another marvelous experience.) I love to sing, but I love handbell ringing and playing flute/piccolo more, and three rehearsals a week is one too many. So I was going to quit after “Gloria.” But then SA Symphony conductor Ken-David Masur asked the University UMC choir (and three others) to sing “Carmina.” That being my very favorite piece of vocal music, I could hardly decline.
We rehearsed Wednesday nights, as usual, after preparing our pieces for the following Sunday’s worship. We didn’t have to prepare the entire suite (about 45 minutes long). The Mastersingers and soloists handled most of the songs, and the “guest” choirs joined in on about ten others (we sang seven). Ours were in Latin (not bad) and something-other-than-modern German (doesn’t exactly roll trippingly off the tongue; “Von deme mere unze an den Rin.” Really.) We all sang the most famous selection, “O Fortuna.” You might not think you know “Carmina,” but you do. “O Fortuna” has been in about a million movies (“Excalibur” as the knights ride through the woods), commercials, and television shows.
The entire ensemble (more than 400 vocalists) rehearsed together only four times (only once with the symphony). Tuesday night’s rehearsal was, um, something less than auspicious. The Mastersingers stood on stage, but the rest of us were scattered throughout the audience seating section of the Majestic. (We stood in two groups on the main floor, just behind the Children’s Chorus; the other two choirs were up in the mezzanine.) In such a case, you cannot listen and sing; if you wait until you hear the others, you are late. It’s critical to watch the conductor’s baton and stay with that beat. It was difficult to stay together, being separated, and our pitches kept going flat. But my professional musician friend reassured me that the first rehearsal in a new space often experiences such problems.
Wednesday night’s rehearsal went better. Thursday night, the symphony accompanied us (rather than a piano). What a difference! Ken-David is a fabulous conductor and was very respectful of the difficulties we faced singing at a distance from the stage. But he was also very exacting and very emotional. His instructions on the feelings behind the words made a huge difference in the performance.
Thursday night’s rehearsal reassured us in other ways, too. At the end of one song, Ken-David cut off twelve measures too early, sending the entire symphony and Mastersingers into fits of confusion. A hurried conversation between the concertmaster and Ken-David finally resulted in the conductor’s astonished “Did I really do that?!?” Hilarious. Almost immediately afterward, the baritone soloist sang his first note, then totally blanked. For us “noodlers,” it was tremendously comforting to know that the pros goof up too.
Saturday night arrived, and we all gathered at the Empire for a quick warm-up. The “guest” choirs (including the San Antonio Choral Society and the Alamo Heights UMC Chancel Choir) then took their seats in the audience and were treated to an amazing performance by violinist Gil Shaham. I didn’t know a person could move his fingers that quickly. Intermission, then showtime!
I felt the performance went very well. Everyone stayed together and really felt the emotion behind the words. I have to tell you….it’s a heady feeling to sing that last note and have the entire audience shout and leap to their feet. It was pretty cool. There were three curtain calls; Ken-David was gracious enough to include the guest choir directors on stage with him and the soloists.
While it was a lot of work, it was also incredibly fun. I hope we have the opportunity to do more of this kind of thing in the future. And if you haven’t purchased your tickets for the new SA Symphony season, go click on the link and do so right now!
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