Date: October 23, 2022
Location: Grand Hall, Lee Shau Kee Lecture Centre, The University of Hong Kong.
Knut Nystedt – Immortal Bach
J.S. Bach – Jesu, Meine Freude, BWV 227
Philip Glass – There Are Some Men
Adrian Wong – Absalom (World Premiere)
Arvo Pärt – Which was the son of…
Hubert Parry – There Is An Old Belief
Charles Villiers – Stanford On Time
Samuel Barber – The Coolin
Dominick Diorio – I Am
Ralph Vaughan Williams – Silence And Music
Bob Chilcott – Even Such Is Time
Noēma is a twenty-person chamber choir, newly formed by top choral artists in the city, whose mission, as explained by conductor and choir founder Sanders Lau, is to advance the city’s choral scene through the pursuit of performing at an unprecedented level of artistic excellence. Lau, during a short speech after the concert, emphasized how the choir is made up mostly of conservatory-trained vocalists who are choral leaders of the city. Noēma therefore is not only a chamber group but a platform for ideas exchange, and advancement of vocal techniques. Lofty goals mean a difficult road ahead, something that Lau freely admitted to be the case. But judging from the choir’s inaugural concert performance, Lau and the rest of the group are well on its way to achieving many of their goals. (Technically this was their second public performance, since they also performed at Tai Kwun earlier in the summer and it was mainly on the strength of that performance that they were invited to participate in this MUSE concert.)
The concert’s title, “Under the Pale of Mist”, was taken from the poem “There are some men” by Leonard Cohen. “Immortal Bach” set the stage by fabricating a “vocal mist”, one that alludes to Bach’s church music and sung in a church setting. The vocalists offered a cleanly executed, sonically robust rendition with plenty of harmonic resonance. Nystedt introduced BWV 227, which not only answered back with its own masterful contrapuntal conception but provided a set piece from which to showcase the vocalists’ exceptional command of individual vocal techniques and ensemble-ship. After the intermission arrived Philip Glass’ work, based on Cohen’s work. Glass provided a different kind of “vocal mist”, one not of a liturgical tradition but of the industrial age of automation, with Glass’ famous repetitions expertly delivered by the tenors. Here was a masterclass of placements of word endings, vowel formations, and rhythmic clarity. “Absalom” was a refreshing work by the young, up-and-coming local composer Adrian Wong. In contrast to some of his earlier works, where Wong frequently applied deliberate dissonance pending resolution, “Absalom” showed a stylistic difference by experimenting with the use of rests and silence as a tool to create tension and, ultimately, a different kind of choral language. It was a pleasant structural contrast to Glass. Thanks to the silent stops, the composition enticed if not demanded the audience’s attention. The resulting delivery by the vocalists was hauntingly beautiful, to the point where the performance had more personal meaning than the short liner notes let on. “What was the son of” was a laborious work of love that opened up to reveal its meaning at the end. Here, the vocalists again put words into action by slowly but surely building up to its inevitable climax.
There was a slight slip in concentration after the vocalists returned from a short break to deliver Barber, but the concert, as a whole, triumphantly displayed a mastery of the art, by undoubtedly some of the finest musicians in the city. After Lau’s short speech, the group proceeded to deliver, as an encore, Rheinberger’s Abendlied. How could only four basses provide such stentorian harmonic foundation? How could the sopranos, each with their own distinct voice, blend so well together? How could melismata be delivered with effortless fluidic beauty? The answers to those questions are now finally promised, through Noēma, to be dispensed to young aspiring vocalists all around the city.
The Fleeting Spectator 