Elora Festival Singers and Orchestra, July 2011: Noel Edison Conducting

Saturday July 30, 2011

Israel in Egypt: Precision and Passion at its Finest
Elora Festival Singers and Orchestra Conducted by Noel Edison

by Brian Hay

The work of the Elora Festival Singers was marvellous. Their voices harmonized beautifully with each section showing their singular qualities to the fullest. Their solo work was stellar. Countertenor Paul Ziadé gave a sparkling rendition of 'Their land brought forth frogs'. Soprano Sheila Dietrich's impassioned singing projected the exuberance of the unconditional love found in the faith portrayed by 'The Lord is my strength' while Mary Anne Hutton's sense of restraint conveyed the deep reverence at its core. Basses Jeff Enns and Jordan Stumpf sang the 'The Lord is a man of war' with a sense of ease that belied the incredible difficulty of singing it well. Their timing with each other and the orchestra around them was impeccable. Tenor Charles Davidson captured the intensity 'The enemy said, I will pursue' fully without coming into conflict with the delightfully light orchestral arrangement that augments it.

The aria 'Thou didst blow with the wind' was set up differently. Instead of coming the as the other soloists did soprano Lesley Bouza sang alongside the orchestra. The change in sonic balance created a soundscape that allowed parts for strings, winds and the singer to weave themselves through one another. It was a striking effect and was probably done to place more emphasis on the sounds of the instruments. The string and wind parts on this song are lovely and they don't normally shine through this way on recorded versions.

The Gambrel Barn doesn't have amenities like air conditioning and the performers enter from the same places the audience does. The lighting equipment above the stage is all that keeps it from looking like a throwback to a previous century. Yet its airiness, small size and astonishing acoustics make it the most intimate of places to listen to live music. The sound envelops the hall like a comforting mist descending from above and the separation between sections, vocal and instrumental, is uncanny. Recording and sound engineers strive (and often struggle) to achieve the effect that this place achieves naturally when attention is paid to small details.

That part of things falls to Conductor Noel Edison. According to the write up that introduces him to festival goers he loves music. The attention he lavishes on small details makes that obvious. Placing soprano Lesley Bouza alongside the instrumentalists as he did was only one example of that. Placing the sopranos and altos at opposite of the stage and around the tenors and basses created a separation between their voices allowed their contributions to weave around each other. Having the bass singers at the rear centre subdued their parts slightly and allowed the instrumental bass sections and the trombones to project more weight. Having singers whose voices contrasted one another sharply as he did with the duets for soloists enhanced the dramatic effect of the numbers. This all worked so well because he paid attention to the acoustic properties of the venue and tailored his interpretation to it.

He used the dynamic range in the score to the fullest. The light reading of 'He spake the word' contained just a touch of severity. The piece that follows, 'He gave them hailstones for rain', was performed with thunderous power that created a sense of raging fury being unleashed by nature. That led to a sublimely restrained performance of 'He sent a thick darkness over the land' and paved the way for the moderate severity applied to 'He smote all the first born of Egypt'. Ebbs and peaks were built this way throughout the performance. Careful attention to tempos and intensity of the playing insured that the work never lost its flow. The players of the orchestra followed (Noel) Edison's lead impeccably. When he demanded subtlety they held back. When it was time to cut loose they leaped in with a flourish. Communication between them was instantaneous. That's the result of a labour of love realized beautifully through hard work and focus and they all loved it.

That was obvious from the way the musicians kept smiling throughout the performance.

This performance took place in the Gambrel Barn in Elora Ontario on Friday July 29, 2011. This write up was done to convey impressions of what it was like to be there.

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