SITE RATING:
4/10
SITE
REVIEW:
This 1998 recording, which took
place at the Eastminster
Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Kansas, was
obviously made as a memento
for choir and orchestra members and their
families, and, despite being
an amateur production, conductor John Leavitt
has done some unique
vocal restructuring, making this recording
more interesting than it
otherwise would have been. The most
jarring evidence that this is not a
professional group are the
soloists, with alto Cammie Nelson sounding
like she's fresh out of high
school, possessing more of a very light "pop"
voice than classical -
and who is truly out of her depth singing
Handel. Treble Matthew
Leavitt (I'm going to
assume a familial
relationship between him and the director)
struggles, having a pleasant
tone, but uncertain pitch and vocal weakness
during his solos.
Soprano Meg Houston
has a
fine, bell-like tone, but struggles with minor
pitch issues, while bass
Lance Fairbairn sounds as if he's auditioning
for a community theater
production of "Les Miserables." But
during his one solo, "The
Trumpet Shall Sound" - the men of the Choir
join in during the last
half of the aria (!), an addition which would
horrify purists,
but which I found very interesting. Conductor John
Leavitt makes other fresh choices with vocal
assignments, with a
children's chorus handling
"There Were Shepherds in the Field", and who
sing with pure, if rather
blocked phrasing. It's a refreshing
change of pace, and they join
the adult choir in "Glory To God" in a
invigorating chorus.
The children's chorus also takes on "Then
Shall the Eyes of the
Blind Be Opened" and "He Shall Feed His
Flock", with similar fine
pitch, but rather rote and square, lacking the
sensitive feeling which
a mature soloist can bring to them. All
in all, this is a more
intriguing
recording than I would have suspected, with
sturdy choral and
orchestral work, and curious use of a
children's choir throughout.
For collector's only.
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