MUSIC REVIEW : Pacific Chorale: Simple and Fresh

Programming a Christmas concert is a subtle task, not simply a matter of stringing together a bunch of familiar carols. Sunday night at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, John Alexander and the Pacific Chorale--along with the help of the Pacific Symphony and St. Andrew’s Children’s Choir--offered a lesson on the subject in a sophisticated, unhackneyed program.

Its strengths included the large amount of music--some of it, granted, not specifically Christmas music--by the great classical composers. Bach’s Cantata No. 191 and the “Dona Nobis Pacem” from the B-minor Mass, Mendelssohn’s “Von Himmel Hoch,” Rachmaninoff’s “Hymn to the Virgin” from his Vespers, and the “Hallelujah” from “Christ on the Mount of Olives” by Beethoven, would be welcome on any program.

Elsewhere, Alexander chose a number of tasteful arrangements of carols--not much glitz and, thankfully, no medleys. Several arrangements by John Rutter, including a somber “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” sung with the choir dispersed throughout the auditorium, and four arrangements by Robert Shaw and Robert Russell Bennett revealed the carols simply, in fresh, colorful settings.

The program’s greatest fault was that it lasted too long. At just under 2 1/2 hours including intermission, a concert containing so many well-known tunes is too much of a good thing. Less would have been more.

The performances were uneven. In the Bach pieces, the 160-voice choir proved unwieldy: Contrapuntal lines lacked definition, rhythms needed point, despite Alexander’s mostly light approach. The Mendelssohn moved with a heavy gait, and the Beethoven, though generally spirited, became too thick with the unnecessary addition of organ. Diction, at times, seemed a secondary concern.

The chorale fared better in the simpler textures of the carol arrangements, its balances and solid intonation more readily apparent along with its powerful sound. The St. Andrew’s Children’s Choir contributed solidly throughout the evening. In the Bach Cantata, soprano Deborah Mayhan and tenor William Smith gave gracious readings of the solos. The Pacific Symphony lent sturdy support and, in three instrumental numbers, including a voluptuous arrangement of Brahms’ “There is a Rose in Flower” by Erich Leinsdorf, played with poise and vibrancy.