Coral fans in awe
of flawless ensemble

Some people started their Christmas season on Friday by shopping. I started mine last night at the Southern Theatre awed and delighted by Chanticleer.

Chanticleer is twelve San Francisco-based male singers who are simply one, of the finest musical ensembles on the planet. The ensemble launched their annual Christmas tour at the Southern as part of the Columbus Chamber Music Society's concert series.

Devotees of the choral art are beholden to the society for the enlightened view of their scope that made the evening possible. An enthusiastic full house clearly agreed.

Fans of Chanticleer, now in its 20th season, may have worried about the effect of the untimely death in 1997 of the group's founder and longtime artistic director, Louis Botto. Craig Hella Johnson, the new artistic director, may have made changes but all fears were allayed.

From stratospheric soprano to subterranean bass, from folk-like simplicity to contemporary complexity, the vocal and musical demands of the varied program were flawlessly met.

About two dozen pieces were sung without an apparent conductor. First came chant, at the end came gospel. In between were masterpieces from the l6th to the 20th centuries, all done idiomatically and with disarming ease.

Two chants from the Sarum rite, a medieval English divergence from Gregorian practice, opened with beautiful sound, flawless intonation and seamless phrasing. The music may sound simple, but such a performance is a tour de force, as any choir director will tell you.

The gospel finale was in the form of an arrangement, finished only two days ago by Joseph Jennings, longtime group member. Obviously being given its first public performance, O Jerusalem in the Morning, joins the distinguished company of Jennings arrangements cherished by collectors of Chanticleer’s CDs.

The arrangement demanded and was served by superb technical and expressive skill.