Words pale as one attempts to describe the sound the Pacific Boychoir produced at the second performance attended by the writer. The sheer sonorities produced by the nearly 100 singers – again, men and boys only as the composer intended – were truly unearthly, and glowing within the space of the new Cathedral, proved very moving indeed. As the first major choral concert ever held in that space, one had to worry about the 4-second echo of the empty room, but with an audience filling the rows, that echo was cut to less than half, allowing the myriad shifting harmonies to bloom. And although the singers standing on either end of the many-rowed chorus could not hear each other, and a certain parabolic effect that seemed to place soloists on the opposite side of the performance space from where they actually stood, the magic of the music and its performance was not hindered in the least.

And what a performance it was! The choral fabric, rich throughout, seemed to ripple and flow in dramatically, beautifully shaped phrasing prepared and performed by Pacific Boychoir’s founder-director Kevin Fox, who allowed the music to speak, to soar, to find its pace and place. One never felt as though tempi were pushed or hurried. The kaleidoscopic music moved from men’s voices to boys’ voice, to solo trio, to full-bore ensemble, seamlessly and in absolutely accurate pitch. The very Cathedral seemed to sigh in accord as though to enhance the choir’s performance. Some movements began with impossible, catch-as-catch-can tempi, the sort that will betray any lack of rehearsal. In this performance, a very few smudgy initial choral attacks could well have been a sonic distortion of the room itself, as Mr. Fox’s directions were clear, unembroidered and left nothing to chance.

Soloist Fernando Tarango’s plangent tenor, piercing and floating above the choral accompaniment, was rapturous. True to his early training in the Princeton, New Jersey-based American Boychoir, Mr. Tarango’s legato is perfect and one sensed that he was absolutely at ease in carrying out his assignments. Boy alto Jack Lundquist displayed a fine contralto-quality voice huge with overtones in leading the finely-balanced alto trio, which included Calvin Achorn and Connor Choi with a performance that easily carried throughout the Cathedral.

Almost all singers were members of the Pacific Boychoir’s several component groups: Troubadors (boys who attend the PBA day choir school and understandably receive a superior education with comprehensive music presence), Trouvéres (boys who attend after-school rehearsals) and Tenors and Basses comprising PBA boys-to-men graduates. In addition, and in order to fill the need for “Russian basses” world-famous for richly resonant and impossibly low notes, another 26 professional singers from the Bay Area were engaged.

The evening got under way with contemporary composer John Tavener’s Song for Athene, a perfect companion piece to the Vespers, which will always be remembered as the final choral blessing as the casket of Princess Diana was led to her final resting place in September of 1997.

After the final Vesper chord dissipated into the brisk early Spring night, the Oakland audience responded with roaring, sustained and protracted applause.

In the Grace Cathedral performance, Russian and Polish politicians and their families and staff gathered to join the Pacific Boychoir in tribute to the fallen Polish leadership who died tragically in the recent plane crash, and were joined by representatives from other European countries.

For tickets to other Pacific Boychoir concerts, call (510) 849-8180 or visit www.pacificboychoir.org


 

Douglas Neslund is Classical Voice correspondent and a noted voice/choral teacher in Los Angeles.