We went to a very interesting choral concert Saturday night. It was at Chiang Mai University. It was a choir that was practicing to compete in the World Choir Games. They sang a diverse range of songs from madrigals to American folk.
The two baritones performing “Tell Him”
My favorite of the night was a tenor solo performance of “Why God, Why?” from Miss Saigon (a musical that ran for an entire decade with more than 8000 performance between Broadway and the Theatre Royal in London). It’s the first time a secular solo was done so well and feelingly that my eyes actually filled with tears. I could feel the deep soul cry of asking God, “Why?”
My second favorite was the baritone solo “Una furtiva lagrima” (from L’Elisir d’amore) by Mozart. My third was probably the baritone solo by the director, “This is the moment” (from Jekyll & Hyde). I also enjoyed the choir singing “Misty”, “You Raise Me Up”, and “Bohemian Rhapsody”.
“Bohemian Rhapsody” was an unusual Broadway-style performance with drums thrown in and a touch of electric guitars. It also a quite depressing song that speaks of a very young man that threw his life away by murdering someone. It ends with a godless, hopeless cry of “Nothing really matters, nothing really matters to me”. It was quite sobering and sad.
I also enjoyed a very unusual arrangement of “Bridge Over Troubled Water”. We Americans were highly amused by the ensemble performance of “Tuxedo Junction” (Glenn Miller). To start with, the main soloist for this song was wearing a tuxedo, had a beard, and had dark glasses–he was the epitome of trying to look like an Asian pop/movie star. Definitely the Bollywood look. But the really funny part was they were trying to sing southern style (” Way down south in Birmingham, I mean south in Alabam’”) but their Thai accent just didn’t quite fit. They couldn’t quite get the “th” sound of south and it came out sout. Let me hasten to add that their English was *excellent* throughout–I was highly impressed. However, this was one place, one part of American culture, that they just didn’t replicate very well. The ensemble that did “The Boy from New York City” did an exceptional job of portraying that song. The subject matter of the song was somewhat less than excellent, but they portrayed the content skillfully! *eyes roll*
Their repertoire is below the fold:
Choir:
Misty (Words by John Burke, Music by Erroll Garner, Arranged by Ed Lojeski)
Smoke gets in your eyes (Words by Otto Harbach, Music by Jerome Kern, Arranged by David Blackwell)
Soprano: Porgi, amor (from Le Nozze di Figaro) by Mozart (This lady was precise, unfeeling, and brittle.)
Soprano: Caro mio ben (by Giuseppe Giordani) (This made me miss Merry Yoder! Merry does *such* a much better job than this poor frightened soloist did.)
Baritone: Una Furtiva lagrima (from L’Elisir d’amore) by Gaetano Donizetti
Soprano: In uomini, in soldati (from Cosi fan tutte) by Mozart (This was one of the more enjoyable Soprano solos. She made numerous mistakes, but she sang with heart and feeling.)
Two Baritones (one played piano and sang, the other just sang): Tell Him (from The Producers) words and music by Mel Brooks
Ensemble: The Boy form New York City, words and music by John Taylor and George Davis
Ensemble: Tuxedo Junction (words by Buddy Feyne, Music by Erskine Horkins, William Johnson, and Julian Dash, Arranged by Jerry Nowak; popularized by big band great Glenn Miller)
Tenor: “Why God, Why?” (from “Miss Saigon”) words by Richard Maltby Jr. & Alain Boublil, music by Claude, Michael Gore
Soprano: Let’s play a love scene (from “Fame”) words by Dean Pitchford, music by Michael Gore
Baritone: This is the moment (from Jekyll & Hyde) words by Leslie Bricusse, music by Frank Wildhom
Tenor, Soprano: Sun and Moon (from “Miss Saigon”) words by Richard Maltby Jr., and Alain Boublil, music by Claude, Michel Schonberg
Choir: You Raise Me Up, words and music by Brendan Graham & Rolf Lovland
Choir: Bridge Over Troubled Water, words and music by Paul Simon, arranged by Kirby Shaw
Choir: Bohemian Rhapsody, words and music by Freddie Mercury, arranged by Mark Brymer
Leave a Comment