Capital Region Performance Gallery

by Dick Frantzreb

This second of two Christmas concerts by the Yuba Sutter Master Chorale was held on a late Sunday afternoon in Marysville’s Faith Lutheran Church. As I watched people enter the high-ceilinged church with its comfortable pews, I got the sense of a community event. There were a few families with children, and some disabled people had gone to great lengths to be present. And near me I noticed extended families, groups of friends, and apparent congregants of the church. They all had converged for a shared Christmas celebration ― and no one would be disappointed.

At the appointed start time, the chorus entered: 23 women in long black dresses and 9 men in tuxedos. After a few moments, Director Kathryn Donovan Campbell entered to the warm applause of the audience.

(Click here to open the program in a new window.)

The concert began with Vivaldi’s Gloria. I was delighted when I first realized that this would be performed. I had myself sung the piece with choruses in the past, but it had been many years since I’d even heard this Baroque classic ― one of my favorites. In my opinion, it’s just not performed enough.

In the moments before the music began, I noted smiles of confidence among the singers ― confidence that was about to be justified. As they began to sing, I was glad to see that the men were not overbalanced by the women. I watched Director Campbell, and I was immediately impressed with her dynamic style, in full control of all the elements of the performance.

Throughout the ensuing 35-minutes, I noticed flashes of brilliance from the 5 instrumentalists and from pianist, Marina Swales, but it was the chorus that impressed me time and again. At one point, I wrote in my notes that this was an “authentic” performance. But it went beyond that to a high-quality effort. Later I wrote that I would have been proud to stand up there and sing with them. The fugue passages were energetic and disciplined. I didn’t detect oversinging; blend, balance and articulation were solid. Each voice part had their moments of brilliance, but I was particularly delighted by the strong entrance of the basses (and then the tenors) in “Cum Sancto Spiritu.”

The two soloists deserve special notice: soprano Carolyn Steele and mezzo Karen Trefzger. Both were clearly trained singers: limber in handling the Baroque figures, artistic and poised in their presentation, and with voices that were simply ― and most importantly ― pleasant to listen to. Good singers are spread throughout the Sacramento region. What are they to do with their talent if they happen to be far from the big city and are tied down with day jobs and families? The answer is the many excellent community choruses, of which Sierra Master Chorale is one.

With the Vivaldi concluded, the string players (and oboe) exited, and we were left with two percussionists: drum and castanet. It was the set-up for two Spanish Christmas pieces. First was “Zumba, Zumba” a spirited, charming Spanish carol that I’d never heard before. “A La Nanita Nana,” was next, a song that I had heard before. But this was an interesting new arrangement in which (pardon me, women), the men really came through beautifully.

The Alfred Burt carols are something of an American Christmas treasure. The writing of the carols was initially a personal matter ― Burt sent them as Christmas greetings every year to friends and family. Eventually though, the 15 carols became more widely known, performed and even recorded. (See the linked program for a full account of the history of Alfred Burt and his carols.)

On this afternoon’s program, the Chorale performed 5 of these carols. When they began with “O Harken Ye,” I was immediately struck with their solid choral sound. Actually, it was not just the sound that impressed me: they were performing with heart. I could also see careful attention to the articulation of the lyrics, and being able to distinguish the words gave all of us in the audience a greater appreciation for the song. The quality of performance continued for the remaining 4 carols. I saw many chorus members singing with such enthusiasm that it was evident they were giving something of themselves. In that, and to my way of thinking, these people progressed from being mere singers to being musicians.

Next on the program was “No Room, No Room.” It was a spiritual with an infectious rhythm, and it was performed with great energy and commitment ― and spirit. If it were last on the program, people would have been humming it for the next hour.

“Pavane pour une infante defunte” is a haunting masterpiece by Maurice Ravel. What we heard next on this afternoon’s program was based on Ravel’s work. It was “Pavane for a Silent Night,” a rearranged version by Patrick Liebergen and given a Christmas text by Jean Anne Shafferman. Is was surpassingly beautiful, especially with the accompanying oboe by Doug Joksch.

Now something quite different was about to happen. The chorus broke their formation to pick up props set out on the front pews of the church. While they were doing it, Director Campbell asked us: “Did you ever get a Christmas gift you didn’t like ― and then regifted it?” That was her introduction to “The Twelve Days of a Regifted Christmas,” a hilarious take-off on “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” For this song, the gifts on each of the twelve days are replaced by other gifts, some of them sounding vaguely like the original ones: “Eight ugly sweaters, seven pink flamingos…and an album by the Partridge Family.” As each day was introduced, people waved their props, most notably the ladies with the “11 feather boas.” Meanwhile, they were singing in a variety of musical styles: Broadway, Latin, and Disco. It was all great fun ― for the chorus and especially for us in the audience.

The finale of this concert was a piece called “Christmas… In About Three Minutes.” It was a musical collage of Christmas songs ― short snatches of each, performed without a break between them. As I listened, it struck me that it must have been terribly difficult to change styles and tempos, along with finding the first note for the new song segment. But this chorus brought it off with flair ― 21 songs altogether.  It was more great fun as the program came to a close.

It had been quite a few years since I’d heard a performance by the Yuba Sutter Master Chorale, and they left me regretting all that I’d missed. They have an excellent, experienced director in Kathryn Donovan Campbell (check out her impressive biography in the program) ― and a fine accompanist in Marina Swales, not to mention a lot of dedicated, talented singers. And speaking of “dedicated,” I can’t stop thinking about the one soprano in the first row who sang the entire program from memory. That also goes to prove my point:  you don’t have to go to the big city to experience some remarkable talent.