Frohsinn-Cacilia Choir of Interlaken, Switzerland. Erich Roth – Conductor. June 3, 2012.

Schlosskirche Interlaken, Switzerland (Seat Rear Right Bench CHF20.)

Program

Triumphszene aus der Oper AIDA by Verdi (1813-1901).

Messa di Gloria by Rossini (1792-1868).

Artists

Orchestra ad hoc.  Concertmaster: Daniela Ianos-Latsch.

Beatrice Ruchti, Soprano; Pascal Marti, Tenor; Christoph Meinen, Tenor; Martin Weidmann, Bass.

We saw a poster for this concert at the Interlaken West train station the day before, and after asking the front desk person at our hotel we figured out where it was going to happen.  We got back from our tour early (it was cloudy) and got to the church 10 minutes before start time.  All the seats were sold out, but they put out benches at CHF 20 each.  Those were soon all gone.  I estimate about 400 people attended the concert.  The total number of musicians was at least a hundred.  They did perform this the day before though.

I didn’t know what to expect, but thought the Aida piece is always a crowd pleaser, and Rossini always wrote enjoyable operas, so he may do equally well with Masses.  We just saw his opera a few days before in Paris.

Overall the performance was very satisfying.  The most notable passage in the Aida piece is the trumpet announcement, and it was done with confidence.  The choir voices were not always done with precision or balance, but that is to be expected with (what I assume to be) an amateur choir.  The Mass sounded happy – even for the passage on Christ’s suffering.  The composition concluded with a rather complex movement by the choir, which they couldn’t quite get (I think even the conductor didn’t know how to get them back on track).  For tonight I was ready to ignore details like that, and simply enjoyed the concert.

The soloists – needed for the Mass - all had adequate voices; the church is on the small side after all.  Their dynamic range is quite good, although I would have like some softer passages.  Particularly worthy of mention are the English horn and the clarinet, they sounded great when accompanying a couple of soloists.

With my limited knowledge of Italian, Latin, and German, I actually could make out most of the libretto, which was very satisfying after my Paris experience.  I assume many conductors are left-handed, but had never seen one who held the baton in his left hand, until today.  Worked okay, except he dropped it during the last few minutes.

I believe most if not all of the musicians are from the surrounding area which doesn’t boast a very large population.  In that regard comparison with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem is inescapable in my mind.  I certainly enjoyed tonight much more than I did back in May.

Then I only have to drive about 2 hours from New Jersey to Bethlehem, PA.