"Saturday's concert was not only a landmark performance by the ensemble but also the strongest performance of any kind this season...The singing was uniformly first-rate...Five members of Montreal's Les Voix Baroques sang the solos, and joining them in the choruses were another half-dozen from Portland's Cappella Romana -- exceptional voices all, and all exceptionally well-integrated with the dynamic contours and phrasing of the orchestra. Soprano Shannon Mercer and alto Matthew White (in an exquisite duet with Joanna Blendulf on gamba) made their final desolate arias heartbreaking high points; baritone Joshua Hopkins sang the role of Jesus with all the appropriate warmth, gravitas and pain; and tenor Jacques-Olivier Chartier and baritone Tyler Duncan were equally captivating and beautifully controlled."
Date:
Sun, 03/13/2011