Stage placement hampers Master Chorale in oratorio

In the Walt Disney Concert Hall, as in real estate, location appears to be a prime consideration. When the Los Angeles Master Chorale gave a Bach-Poulenc program Sunday, the placement of the chorus made a world of difference.

For the second installment of the chorale’s multiyear presentation of Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio,” conductor Grant Gershon stood his singers right behind the orchestra, instead of on the tiers designed for them at the back of the stage. He may have done this because he was using only 39 singers for the second and third parts of the oratorio, or because he wanted to enhance the intimacy between the chorus and the musicians.

The results, however, were disappointing. The chorus sounded surprisingly underpowered; its sound emerged compacted and clotted, with fugal lines and overall balance generalized, indistinct and even lost. Only in the chorales, which were sung as rock-solid articles of faith, did the singers make a powerful impression.

To be sure, the Second Cantata, which focuses on the annunciation of the birth of Christ to the shepherds, evokes a gentler world than the regal First Cantata, performed last season. Gershon, sporting a new mustache and goatee, carried the lilt of the music through the whole piece. But although trumpets and drums return in the Third Cantata, the impact of the chorus did not noticeably change.

The modest vocal impression extended to the uneven and somewhat text-indifferent soloists: soprano Claire Fedoruk, mezzo-sopranos Jennifer Wallace (Second Cantata) and Helene Quintana (Third Cantata), tenor Andrew Meyer and bass Stephen Grimm, all members of the chorale. Still, Meyer, making his debut as a soloist, sang off book.

Everything changed radically after intermission, when the 100-plus members of the full chorale -- now placed on the chorus tiers -- joined an expanded orchestra and resonant soprano soloist Jessica Revira for a splendid performance of Poulenc’s cheeky Gloria. Individual sections could be heard clearly, and the orchestra too sounded liberated and enlivened.

The effect was not a matter of numbers. Denyce Graves’ mezzo had filled the hall in her solo recital two weeks before, as had the chamber-sized St. Martin in the Fields earlier in the season. Location seems to be the key.

The concert ended with two encores: Morten Lauridsen’s “O Magnum Mysterium” (the composer was in the audience) and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”

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Los Angeles Master Chorale

Where: Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles

When: Today, 7:30 p.m.

Price: $15-$75

Contact: (213) 972-7282