Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ. (Orchestra, Seat M2).
Program – Joy to
the World
Artists
Nola Richardson, soprano
Matawan-Aberdeen Middle School Dolce, Nadine Greenspan,
Director
This is the third year of our tradition of attending this
MCC Christmas concert with the Homs.
While this year’s program has some overlap with prior years’ programs,
there is enough new material to make the evening interesting.
The biggest gripe is still with how poorly the chorus’s
sound carried into our seating area. I
checked our seats for prior seasons, they were all in this same general area. I wonder if other seating areas have similar issues.
In contrast, the soprano’s voice came across very
well. What she sang included a few
selections from Handel’s Messiah, and her singing certainly was on the level of
what I heard at NJ Symphony this past Friday.
Brandau acknowledging soprano Richardson at end of first half of program. Note the harpsichord towards the right of the photograph.
The appearance of this young girl’s chorus Dolce added to
the atmosphere. They did quite well with
their first song (on stage) but not so well with the second one (in front of
the stage.) It is my own experience
working with teenagers that it is very difficult to get them to project their
voices while singing. And the poor
acoustics didn’t help.
This year the orchestra seemed to take a more prominent role than in the past.
Attendance again was quite good, quite a few small
children, and one baby (he/she did cry at some point.) A good time was had by all …
I have a 8:30 pm flight up to Boston this evening, so we
rushed out of the theater at the end of the program. Turns out flights are delayed because of
weather in the area, so we had time to eat something at Cheesequake service
plaza before Anne dropped me off.
I am now booked on the 7:35 pm flight which will leave at
9:29 pm. The original 8:30 pm flight is
now scheduled for 11:10 pm departure.
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