SCSO Performance Celebrates Bach and Mondavi Venue
James Lajoie – Concert Review - Special to the American River Messenger - April 2009
(Word document version)

Johann Sebastian Bach must surely have had a huge smile on his German Baroque face when Conductor Donald Kendrick and the Sacramento Choral Society & Orchestra feted his 324th birthday on Sunday evening, March 22 at the UC Davis Mondavi Center.

The very well-attended performance, sponsored by the SCSO’s own successful fundraiser, showcased a terrific “Bach musical sampler” with excerpts from the St. John Passion, the Ascension Cantata (#11), the Lutheran Mass No. 4 in G Major and Bach’s magnificent Magnificat.

The warm Mondavi acoustic truly complemented the Bach repertoire chosen for this timely celebration. Clarity of sound was the order of the day for the 4 soloists, the Chorus and Orchestra. Conductor Donald Kendrick deftly and expressively guided the musical forces on stage, conducting the entire program from memory.

Soloists Robin Fisher, Soprano, Julie Anne Miller, Mezzo, Isaac Hurtado, Tenor and John Bischoff, Bass added an elegant touch to this Bach celebration through their expressive and moving delivery.

The SCSO orchestra underpinned the strong, well-focused and expressive SCSO Chorus. Oboist Tom Nugent provided a warm and haunting accompaniment for the various soloists throughout the evening. Piccolo trumpeters Michael Meeks, John Leggett and Dan McCrossin added outstanding fanfare and drama to the Cantata and Magnificat and flutists Tod Brody and Elizabeth Coronata and bassoonist Karen Gale brilliantly accompanied the soloists in a winning and effortless manner. The continuo team of Concert Master Cindy Lee, the principle players and harpsichordist Stephen Janzen added an elegant, chamber-music like atmosphere to the entire evening.

The SCSO will close its 13th season at Mondavi on Sunday, June 7 at 7 PM with a unique program entitled Choral Soundscapes. The concert will feature Fern Hill written by Pulitzer prize winner John Corigliano, works by Handel, Michael Haydn, Whitacre and a stunning choral orchestral arrangement of 7 American Spirituals by John Rutter.

The SCSO plans to celebrate its 14th season at Mondavi with performances of the Brahms Requiem and Orff’s rollicking Carmina Burana that they featured in Carnegie Hall in 2003. Home for the Holidays will enjoy two performances at Mondavi on Saturday, December 12 at 2 PM and 8 PM. Tickets go on sale in late June at Mondavi for this series: (866) 754-2787.

The SCSO’s new Stained Glass series of concerts will be inaugurated at the recently renovated Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento. The performances will include European and English Cathedral classics by Mozart, Bruckner, Rachmaninov, Parry, and Vaughan Williams. For more information on this new series, call the SCSO at (916) 536-9065 or visit the website soon: sacramentochoral.com