A Splurge—Sort of

The backstory (already known to a few family members). I saw a recent WQXR blurb referencing a musical instrument called a serpent. You know how to Google, Yahoo! and internet search, right? Anyhoo, my Yahoo! search referenced PDQ Bach (do your own search!). I checked to see whether PDQ had any scheduled NYC performances. He didn’t. On a whim, I checked the King’s Singers (that’s the way my crazy mind works). Well—it appears that they were supposed to perform at Carnegie Hall (Zankel) but were postponed due to Hurricane Sandy. Huh! Out of the blue, I received a $50 gift card as a thank-you for my response to attempting to help out in the initial aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. And the King’s Singers concert was rescheduled for Feb. 18. I bought a $50 ticket; I went; I enjoyed.

The history—three pairs of madrigals from The Triumph of Oriana and Il trionforio di Dori—I’m not making this up, you know!

Suffice it to say that these six vocalists presented these 1557–1609 works in an absolutely beautiful performance, plus intermezzi. These consisted of works by Thomas Morley, Giovanni Croce, Camille Saint-Säens (intermezzo), Giovanni Gabrieli, Edward Johnson, Francis Poulenc (intermezzo), Giovanni Palestrina, Thomas Weelkes, plus Jody Talbot and Goffredo Petrassi. I’m not making this up, you know.

This is an all-male group consisting of two countertenors (no jokes, please), one tenor (no jokes, please), two baritones, and one bass. Whether that’s always been their mix in their history, I do not know.

This was great stuff. Beautiful sound—a mix of exquisitely blended sound with individually voiced sound, from time to time.

The second half of the concert included the Petrassi—Nonsense, by Edward Lear, translated from English to Italian. I’m here to tell you, limericks are funny – even in Italian! There followed a group of American Tin Pan Alley songs followed by four encores. Four well-deserved encores.

God Bless the Child (arr. Richard Rodney Bennett (world premiere – might need some work)), Look at Me, I’m On a Train (a tribute to subway noise), You Are the New Day (perennial favorite), plus And So It Goes (my best guess).

I love hearing this group. Obviously the personnel has changed over the last 30+ years, but they still put on a great show. I’m glad I heard them in a world-class hall.

ConcertMeister