Artists of The Metropolitan Opera Chorus
New Yorkers are an intrepid bunch. Neither snow nor ice nor frigid temperatures will keep them from their appointed cultural rounds. Last night's cultural event was not to be missed. The rotunda of The Guggenheim Museum was lined with music lovers standing on the ascending ramp at every level with a significant portion sitting in chairs at ground level, all of us eager to hear Christmas music, some familiar, some less well known.
Regulars at The Metropolitan Opera are probably aware of the enormous contribution of The Metropolitan Opera Chorus comprising 75 full time singers; but not many know that The Metropolitan Opera is the only opera company in The United States that has a full time chorus. A couple dozen of them have formed a subsidiary entity called The Metropolitan Opera Chorus Artists and artists they are indeed.
We recognized several up and coming young singers that we have written about like mezzo-soprano Morena Galan and bass Eric Lindsey. In any other city they would be starring in an opera and in fact, many of them have done so, like big fish in a small pond. Maestro Jeremy Little conducted them and Lee Steiner accompanied them on the piano.
A special treat was the presence of soloist Jasmine Rice LaBeija, a Juilliard trained singer who has forged quite a career for her gorgeous flamboyant self performing in drag shows around the country and abroad. Please, Dear Reader, take a look at a photo we took of her and posted on our Facebook pages and on Instagram. We have a particular admiration for people with an unusual combination of talents who depart from the traditional path.
She is the essence of fabulosity, beside having a sensational voice which she shared in Stephen Schwartz' "Through Heaven's Eyes" and the most affecting "O Holy Night", an English translation by John Sullivan Dwight of Adolphe Adam's "Cantique de Noël". The arrangement was attributed to Dan Goeller. It was lovely but we still prefer the French version. Do you?
"Carol of the Bells" struck a familiar chord, so to speak. Rachmaninoff's "Vespers Bogoroditse" was particularly lovely. The audience responded with enthusiasm to Irving Berlin's familiar "White Christmas".
We loved the gospel inflected final number, Moses Hogan's arrangement of "Glory, Glory, Glory to the Newborn King" which had us moving to the beat. We could tell from the smiling faces of the audience as they filed out into the cold that they had been warmed by the concert. And this is exactly what "culture" should do for us.
© meche kroop
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