That’s true, they would sing without a conductor. In the meantime we were well into Rossini’s ‘Gloria’ Petite messe solennelle and you wouldn’t have missed that conductor for a second. The Netherlands Chamber Choir and Amsterdam Sinfonietta started off with such vigor at the Arnhem premiere of their second conductor-less collaboration. For the Amsterdam string orchestra, playing without a conductor is a piece of cake; with the 21 singers of the NKK you forgot that they are used to having one in front of them. There was no hesitation to commit and during delays the choir and orchestra went hand in hand, as if driven by one and the same wheel.
Who the Petite messe solennelle wants to hear from Rossini, has a choice: the first version from 1863, for twelve singers, two pianos and harmonium, or the version from three years later, in which Rossini uses the choir to the sound of a symphony orchestra with a large battery of brass instruments plus church organ. With the Nederlands Kamerkoor and Amsterdam Sinfonietta you don’t have to choose this month: a new arrangement by Wijnand van Klaveren combines both scores into one for choir, string orchestra, harmonium and two horns.
According to the program booklet, Van Klaveren was able to copy 90 percent of the string notes from Rossini’s orchestral score. The work was more about translating the woodwind parts to the harmonium. Was that a success? That was partly audible. You regularly saw harmonium player Dirk Luijmes busy, but the sound of his instrument was no match for the roaring orchestra and choir. When the harmonium came back to the surface with a playful tune, it provoked the thought: “Ah, fortunately, there it is again.” In its own solo part, the ‘Prélude religionux’, the harmonium was in the spotlight. This prayer sounded breathtakingly intimate under Luijmes’ hands.
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Horribly beautiful
The thought that lingered in the queue to the cloakroom: how terribly beautiful the Netherlands Chamber Choir and Amsterdam Sinfonietta sound together! The audience almost rose with delight, the closing Amen of ‘Gloria’ sounded so radiant. The great thing about this arrangement is that it retains the charming, light character of Rossini’s first version, something that is lost when the scale is increased to symphony orchestra with the accompanying trumpet blasts and timpani rolls. Hats off to Amsterdam Sinfonietta, which put Rossini’s characteristic rhythm patterns under the choir with a tireless engine.
For the solos sung, Rossini, an opera composer par excellence, wrote arias that would not be out of place on stage. With soloists from the ranks of the Netherlands Chamber Choir, this music came closer to the church. Highlights were tenor William Knight, who elegantly completed the Domine deus, soprano Bobbie Blommesteijn with the sensitively sung hymn ‘O salutaris hostia’, and alto Eline Welle, who brought this concert to a moving end with a passionate ‘Agnus Dei’. A match made in heaven, this combination of the Netherlands Chamber Choir and Amsterdam Sinfonietta, and a performance that you cannot get enough of.