We have a great program coming up with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus! Maestro Charles Dutoit will be conducting two wonderful French choral works: Poulenc’s Stabat Mater and Berlioz’s Te Deum. Erin Wall is the soprano soloist in the Poulenc and Paul Groves is the tenor soloist in the Berlioz. The Pacific Boychoir directed by Kevin Fox and organist Jonathan Dimmock also join in on the Berlioz. Performances are Wednesday through Sunday except for Friday – February 6, 7, 9, and
10 – in Davies Symphony Hall. The Sunday concert is at 2:00 pm while the rest are at 8:00 pm. Tickets are available online and it looks like some good seats are still available.
If you like to hear a lot of chorus singing, this concert is for you. The chorus sings practically non-stop throughout both works; the solo roles are fairly small and there is not much music for the orchestra alone. If you are a fan of the combined colors of organ, orchestra, and chorus, the Berlioz Te Deum offers lots of that. The Poulenc has lots of a cappella singing. Both works are beautiful but are not that frequently performed. This will be the first time the San Francisco Symphony has ever performed the Poulenc, and the Berlioz was last performed by the Symphony about 40 years ago. This will be a great concert for fans of French choral music.
Michael, I’m a bit jealous – wish I could have been there to hear these great performances! I love choral music, and the Te Deum must have been an awesome melange of instruments and voice. Are there any recordings of that available via internet?
I’ve tried to email you, but have not received a reply as yet. Looking forward to chatting with you as we have some good news here 🙂
Thanks for the message, Sherry! Sometimes the concerts are streamed on http://www.kdfc.com, like our Brahms last year, but usually not. I don’t know if this one is planned. However my first recording with the SFS Chorus, the Beethoven 9th, is planned for release later this year on SFS Media.