Well, another performance of Beethoven's Ninth. At least that's the way it felt to some of us. There was a while back there when we were doing the Ninth just about every year (89,92,95,97,98,99,00,03,06,09). It's not an easy piece to sing -- very high and loud for just about everybody, the fugue has some tricky rhythms, there are an awful lot of words, particularly if it's being done from memory (and large sections were), and the last part can be wicked fast -- and you do all this after sitting for what seems like forever listening to the first three movements. This can get old for the people who have done it a lot of times, and learning it can be pretty tough for the people for whom it is new. So the Ninth can be a trial.
But it also can be a transcendent musical experience for the audience. The conductor, Louis Langrée, did a lot to make it so. He strongly emphasized the text, asked for fluid melodic lines, and in general was very musical -- and a nice guy. He also was extremely reliable at giving us entrances, cutoffs and generally useful cues. Would that every conductor were that helpful!
The upshot of this was that I heard one person say, "I haven't enjoyed singing the Ninth for a long time, but I did enjoy that one" -- and I confess I felt pretty much the same way. The soloists were good -- and a lot of fun, too. For example, in the first rehearsal at the end of one phrase the two women need to hold a note for an awful long time -- they did it successfully and high-fived each other. For part of the rehearsal they turned around while we were singing and cheered us on, giving what we were doing plenty of body English. So we liked them and they liked us, too.
I've got to say, also, that the orchestra was superb. They were as tight as I've ever heard them, and that symphony has a lot of really tricky rhythms. It's a little hard to tell about us from inside the performance, but from where I was it sounded like we were really cooking -- and others said the same thing from different parts of the stage. I think we were probably pretty darn good as well.
What did the audience think? Well, we do a lot of performances at which the audience starts out applauding loudly, people start cheering and standing and eventually everyone stands for the ovation. Every once in a while -- and in my experience it is rare -- the entire audience leaps to its feet as soon as the music stops and yells like crazy. I've been in a couple Messiah performances like that. And that's what happened Saturday night. It's a memorable experience. And it also doesn't hurt to have the mezzo stomping her feet when we were acknowledged and the baritone mouthing "Awesome".
Here's a comment from Gary Scullin:
After the Thursday night performance, I crossed the street towards the parking garage with a a couple who had been in the audience. They guy said "Thank you, that was terrific" and the lady said "Class Act." That was nice: "Class Act." And three 5-minute ovations? Not bad.