The program included Bach's Magnificat and Easter Oratorio.
Bach composed his choral music for choirs of men and boys, boys singing even fairly virtuoso solos in both soprano and alto ranges. But puberty now comes considerably earlier than in Bach’s day, meaning boys’ treble voices don’t get the extra time and seasoning they got in the 18th century. Even “period performance” groups now mainly use mixed choruses, with women’s voices aiming for quasi-boyish effects.
The Bach Society’s 16 singers produced powerful and, where necessary, nimble sounds in the big choruses. The soloists, who also sang in the chorus, were a mixed bag. Soprano Kara Libby and mezzo Sabatina Mauro had bigger, brassier voices than we usually hear these days in Bach, although they both brought their solos vividly to life. The men were a bit underwhelming.
Daniel Bubeck was a rather hooty version of a countertenor — and there’s little evidence that Bach had his alto solos sung by falsettists, as opposed to boys. Tenor Tucker Bilodeau and baritone Andrew Dittman sang competently, but they didn’t always project over instrumental accompaniments. The tenor solo “Sanfte soll mein Todeskummer” in the Easter Oratorio anticipates a gentle death, but it needed more energy and assurance than it got.
Balances were sometimes problematic elsewhere, perhaps aggravated by Sunday’s concert in a church very different from one used for a Saturday performance. In the lively acoustics of Zion Lutheran Church, which virtually draws sounds out of both singers and instruments, the instrumentalists often could have played less forcefully. The cello continuo was often too loud in the concert’s first half, but it was in more natural balance after intermission..
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