The Chamber Singers triumphed last weekend at their annual Feast of Song in Webster Hall. From the opening of the musical program, Clement Janequin's "Je ne fut jamais si aise" to Claude le Jeune's exultant "Revecy venir du printans," the Chamber Singers brought a confident, clear, dynamically attuned performance to some of the same music that had troubled them earlier in the season.
Last Friday, there were no signs of any uncomfortability; indeed the smaller ensembles, specifically in "La Belle Aronde," showed great capacity to handle the most intricate demands of the music. Another work which showcased the Chamber Singer's increasing mastery of the material was le Jeune's "Tu ne l'entens pas, la la la." Delivered immaculately and with perfect sense of texture and line, it continuously created the ideal intimate sound that the music was originally intended to possess.
Only one aspect of the vocal performances was puzzling: The solo selection for Alicia Jennings '96 was somewhat unconventional. It is unclear why a singer with such a comfortably high tessitura such as Jennings' would be given such a bottom heavy, vocally sporadic solo like Josquin des Prez's "Que t'aige fait." Why not give her a solo that demonstrates her obvious proclivity towards the higher register?
The plot was hardly Shakespearean and most Chamber Singers rose to its challenges. However, few of them kept pace with Sarah Nolan '97 who played Catherine de Medici. Nolan was the bitchiest Queen the writer has ever had the pleasure of seeing, stealing her scenes with an elegant mix of sangfroid and comic verve. Eric Loring '93 was the archetypical King Henri II. He bellowed his lines with continental authority while constantly playing up the hypocritical, libidinous aspects of his character.
The dinner, a heaping "Coq au vin avec une pilaf de riz" or less pretentiously "chicken and rice" was surprisingly edible. The piece de resistance was the exquisite "Tarte au chocolat veloute" which, despite it's risque title, was actually a French silk pie and a Dining Services triumph.
If there was a sour note during the "Feast of Song," it was the Brass Ensemble's consistently out-of-tune performances throughout the evening. They frequently smudged the atmosphere with some highly inauthentic playing for which the real Henri II would have had drastic solutions.
Nevertheless, the show was unusually well-paced and David Guerrerio '96, is to be credited for an adept integration of dining and action and for maintaining interest in the story over the extended performance. Melinda O'Neal's thorough preparation with the singers, as well as her intimate knowledge of the music, was very much in evidence and her conducting style brought out the best in the Chamber Singers. O'Neal also deserves credit for choosing material that challenged the group while not proving insurmountable.
All in all, "Feast of Song" was a wonderful evening's entertainment and a great antidote to the inertial tendencies that this season usually produces in all of us. The performances will run again Thursday, Jan. 20 to Saturday, Jan. 22 at 6 p.m. in Webster Hall.
