Two Requiems for the Price of One

On Saturday the 19th, the San Francisco Choral Society performed two Latin requiems in Davies Symphony Hall. The first was written by contemporary Ukranian composer Alexander Shchetynsky in 1991 and revised in 2004. The other was written by Mozart in 1791 and the incomplete score was finished by Austrian composer Franz Xaver Süssmayr.

Though not a big fan of requiems as a general rule, I attended partly to hear a friend sing a small soloist part in the Shchetensky, which was a lovely 20-minute work firmly in the vein of other Eastern European composers like Henryk Górecki and Arvo Pärt who migrated from serialism to simpler, ascetic, spiritual music. (Pictured above is bass-baritone buddy Sid Chen, who sounded clear and resonant, standing next to ginger giant Russell Carrington.)

The San Francisco Choral Society under Music Director and conductor Robert Geary started in 1989 and have been giving performances of major symphonic choral works ever since. I have heard them sing Haydn's The Seasons at Calvary Presbyterian Church, David Lang's battle hymns at the Kezar Pavilion in Golden Gate Park, and Carl Orff's Carmina Burana in Davies Symphony Hall, and they were all thoroughly enjoyable performances.

Part of the joy comes from the enthusiastic energy of non-paid, auditioned amateurs performing at high levels with professional singers and orchestral musicians. The freelance orchestra for this concert was billed as the California Chamber Symphony, contracted by violinist and teacher Eugene Chukhlov. It was an unusual combination of seasoned pros and a few students who looked like they had barely passed through puberty. They sounded good, though.

Mozart's Requiem starts off fabulously and then becomes pedestrian in the middle sections written by Süssmayr, but this was the most enjoyable version of the work I have heard live. (Pictured above is Bob Ashley, Principal Bass of the Marin Symphony, among other gigs.)

The soloists were Emily Sinclair, soprano; Shauna Fallihee, mezzo-soprano; Michael Jankosky, tenor; and Eugene Brancoveanu, bass-baritone. Sinclair had pitch problems, but Fallihee and Jankosky were lovely, and Brancoveanu sounded as good as ever, booming beautifully through the large hall.