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Reviews, listings, and quotes
THE NEW YORK VIRTUOSO SINGERS
" In that domain of the performance of contemporary music which has been most neglected and least supported in this country, there is no choral group which has been more able and willing to perform responsibly the most demanding and knowing of contemporary works than The New York Virtuoso Singers, under the guidance of a sophisticated and understanding conductor. Not only do they deserve and require support, but the fate of contemporary choral music is largely contingent on such support". -Milton Babbitt, 7/1/99 "The New York Virtuoso Singers: Harold Rosenbaum's group, true to its name, devotes an entire concert to the daunting, yet exuberant music of Charles Wuorinen." "Harold Rosenbaum and the New York Virtuoso Singers have sung so many of my pieces so beautifully that each encounter with them renews my enthusiasm for choral music." (Producer) Howard Stokar's vision in presenting the US premiere of
Krenek's monumental setting of Lamentations was beautifully
complemented by Harold Rosenbaum's stunning performance with his
excellent chorus. The work is exceptionally difficult to sing,
and it is a tribute to Rosenbaum that he brought it off so
compellingly.
The hardy Brooklyn Philharmonic, long an invaluable part of the
New York City music scene, ushered in a new era on Saturday night
with its inaugural concert under the direction of its recently
appointed music director, the fresh-faced Michael Christie...
Glass's radiant paean came across well, the offstage chorus at the
conclusion especially effective.Following the break came the red
meat of the program: Orff's Carmina burana....The combined forces
of the New York Virtuoso Singers, the University at Buffalo Chorus
and Choir, the Canticum Novum Singers and the Westchester Oratorio
Society filled risers at the rear of the stage... the massed
ensemble performed admirably...on the whole, tonight's concert was
a remarkable achievement.
Harold Rosenbaum's finely polished
chorus.... "Dear Harold, Your concert was
fantastic! I loved every piece on the concert - every one!!! And
the performances were spectacular. You are SOOO talented!!!" This estimable chamber chorus champions
contemporary music and, true to its name, performs it with virtuosity. This CD [Thea Musgrave: Choral Works]
presents a tribute to Thea Musgrave on the occasion of her 75th
birthday...The New York Vituoso Singers, arguably America's finest
'new music' chorus, are heard in this loving tribute to Musgrave. Andrew Imbrie's Requiem [Imbrie:
Requiem, Piano Concerto No 3] was nominated for the 2000 Grammy
Award for "Best Classical Contemporary Composition". Scottish-born Thea Musgrave...has
devoted herself with great success to operas and choral music....In
Thea Musgrave: Choral Works, presented by the New York Virtuoso
Singers under Harold Rosenbaum, we hear the composer up to her new-old
tricks....Kudos go to all the members of the New York Virtuoso Singers.
They truly live up to their name. Thea Musgrave: Choral Works; The
New York Virtuoso Singers: This release will be of interest to all
choral aficionados looking for interesting material in the post-Britten
tradition. This small group does impressive work with challenging
material. In its rousing climax, the composer's
setting of Friedrich Schiller's "Ode to Joy," the combined
efforts of the New York Virtuoso Singers, Canticum Novum Singers,
and the University of Buffalo Choir, directed by Harold Rosenbaum,
made the choral contribution a powerful one. The Brooklyn Philharmonic…celebrated
its 50th anniversary….On Saturday evening at the Brooklyn
Academy of Music…Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Mr. Christie's
account of the Beethoven Ninth Symphony was brisk and generally
solid.... The combined New York Virtuoso Singers, Canticum Novum
Singers and University at Buffalo Choir sang with a celebratory
robustness. Thea Musgrave's
music continues to receive deserved and overdue attention on disc.
The New York Virtuoso Singers do Musgrave proud, closely recorded
in precise, pure-toned and committed performance. For a composer whose music is so
accessible, varied and inherently likable, Samuel Barber isn't performed
a lot....Harold Rosenbaum and his New York Virtuoso Singers made
a case for Barber's music for chamber chorus at Merkin Concert Hall
on Tuesday evening. Mr. Rosenbaum took pains to make his presentation
comprehensive: childhood works and unpublished scores were included....Mr.
Rosenbaum's singers produced the warm, rounded sound that this music
invites, and at their best in "Twelfth Night" and "On
the Death of Cleopatra" they sang with beauty and passion. A chamber chorus with the word virtuoso
in its name might seem over-confident, but the New York Virtuoso
Singers can claim truth in advertising. Founded in 1988 by Harold
Rosenbaum, the ensemble has won consistent praise for its technically
accomplished and authoritative performances of a wide-range of challenging
20th-century and contemporary music. Mr. Rosenbaum is not just an
expert music director but a bracing programmer. On Sunday his ensemble
offers a typically adventurous program titled "American Gems," ...the excellent New York Virtuoso Singers Harold Rosenbaum's fearless New York Virtuoso
Singers No opera written by anyone in the final
decade of the 20th Century has kicked up nearly as much controversy
as "The Death of Klinghoffer."...The work's kinship to
the Bach Passions was again reinforced by the use of the chorus,
the New York Virtuoso Singers....In sum, this was a triumph for
all concerned. The New York Virtuoso Singers lived up to
their name as the opera's Greek Chorus. Fortunately, the performers make up for
many of the work's shortcomings. Robert Spano's animated blend of
tenacity and sensitivity makes the gritty Brooklyn Philharmonic
cook, and Harold Rosenbaum's New York Virtuoso Singers give the
choruses new energy and pathos. The stationary nature of the chorus and
soloists, who mostly appear behind screens bearing stark images
of ships, encourages a solemn and restrained performance leavened
occasionally by flashes of humour. However, fine ensemble work by
the New York Virtuoso Singers, who comprise the chorus, keep the
production from languishing too badly in its slower moments.... -James Oestreich, NY Times 10/24/03 Late Saturday afternoon the amazing chamber
choir the New York Virtuoso Singers, under the direction of Harold
Rosenbaum, sang choral music by Gyorgy Ligeti, Krzysztof Penderecki,
and four Americans....Ligeti's "Lux aeterna" (1966) is
a 20th century classic, and it was sung with luminous rapture. Giving a valuable historical depth were
two acappella psalms by Charles Ives, familiar to all of us, but
rarely heard in such excellent performances as those offered by
the New York Virtuoso Singers. "Performing with Harold Rosenbaum and his
New York Virtuoso Singers , whose artistry is as exemplarary as
their professionalism, was a profound and memorable experience.
Their invaluable contribution to contemporary music deserves wide
recognition." The little Liszt festival at Cooper Union
last weekend was curtailed because of the pianist Stephen Drury's
indisposition, but what remained was both splendid and rare: a performance
on Saturday of Liszt's "Via Crucis" of 1878-79. This is
an astonishing piece....There was also expert and thrilling attention
from the choir, a 15-voice core of the New York Virtuoso Singers,
conducted as usual by Harold Rosenbaum. The two lamenting Bach chorales
interposed in the score had a fittingly stern dignity: the calls
of "Crucifige!" were fierce and tight, and the final sweetness
was achieved without sentimentality. I feel I am still walking a little bit on
a cloud. Last Sunday's concert was such a happy, deeply gratifying
experience. I can't thank you enough for your fantastic work of
preparing the chorus. They sang splendidly, and were a joy to collaborate
with. Mr. Sloane, the music director of the American
Composers Orchestra, got his official tenure off to a promising
start with an ambitious, interesting, strongly conducted program
at Carnegie Hall involving the full orchestra, the New York Virtuoso
Singers and five vocal soloists. The New York Virtuoso Singers did very well The big statements of Mahler were, of course,
his symphonies, and none is bigger than the Eighth....The best work
was done by the choruses - the New York Virtuoso Singers and the
Newark Boys Chorus - with the former supplying a measure of shading
and phrasing lacking in much of the orchestral work. What more glorious way to end the two-weekend
Bard Music Festival than with a resounding performance of Mahler's
'Symphony of a Thousand'? Performing groups included the American
Symphony Orchestra, the New York Virtuoso Singers, and the Newark
Boys Chorus, all under the direction of Leon Botstein, who had the
challenge of directing as monumental and dramatic a work as any
in the post-Romantic period. And he did so with standing-ovation
success. From his massed forces, he drew a panoply of sounds and
effects, from delicate to overwhelming and beyond....The choristers
entered with magnificent sounds on a ninth-century hymn, "Veni,
creator spiritus."....Especially effective was the gentle and
delicate delivery by the singers in "Chor der Engel,"
...the crystalline singing of "Mater gloriosa," and by
contrast, the awe-inspiring and majestic "Chorus mysticus,"
which concluded the concert with a splendid and sumptuous finale. Post performance exuberance bordering on riot
is part of a rock concert. It is a rarer thing for patrons of symphonic
extravaganzas to turn into rabid ecstatics, but there we were Sunday
afternoon, on our feet following the transfiguring finale of Gustave
Mahler's "Grand Vindication: Symphony No. 8," played in
brass-melting heat with heroic fervor inside the Bard Music Festival
tent. Nothing short of exhilarating were the closing
passages of Gustave Mahler's "Symphony No. 2 in C Minor"
as played by the American Symphony Orchestra on Saturday night.
With more than 120 instrumentalists, 100 members of the New York
Virtuoso Singers and two vocal soloists - all under the direction
of Leon Botstein - the dynamic work in its entirety was performed
with world-class musicianship....lush a cappella singing. ...Harold Rosenbaum and his intrepid,... brave
and splendid singers were to be admired at every turn. The New York
Virtuoso Singers gave us a composer (Ernst Krenek) speaking in private
and offering an exquisite gift to his own particular god. Decisive singing by The New York Virtuoso Singers. At the BAM Opera House, King David was beautifully
played and sung in English. Harold Rosenbaum had the female members
of the chorus sounding seductive, the men menacing (in their special
assignment, "Song of the Prophets"), and the entire chorus
sounding so in tune we almost missed that acceptably imperfect phenomenon
called choral tone. Your Schuman concert was a unique perfection. LISTING: Famed for some of the most alert and
vigorous choral singing in the city, Harold Rosenbaum and his team
present a concert devoted to the works of William Schuman –
quite an alert and vigorous individual himself. LISTING: …outstanding choir, led as always
by Harold Rosenbaum…. The New York Virtuoso Singers were in excellent
form last Saturday night: beautifully in tune, clear-textured, fresh
and lively in their sound and phrasing, immediately responsive to
their conductor, Harold Rosenbaum….Harrison Birtwistle’s
“Three Latin Motets”…is music awe-struck, and it
was awesomely performed. LISTING: The New York Virtuoso Singers. The city’s
outstanding concert choir, led by Harold Rosenbaum, offers a lively
program of new and recent music by American and British composers.
The stylistic range is vast, quality the supreme criterion. Harold Rosenbaum is an astute programmer with
an ear for the unusual….The New York Virtuoso Singers produced
an exquisitely blended sound. It takes a large measure of self-confidence for
a performing group to assert its virtuosity in its name. But the
New York Virtuoso Singers practice truth in advertising. The singers
in this 16 voice-chamber chorus, now in its 12th season under their
founding conductor, Harold Rosenbaum, really are virtuosos. They
would have to be, since they specialize in challenging contemporary
music…Perhaps an a cappella concert of contemporary music looks
on paper like a rigorously intellectual evening. But these 16 singers
in an intimate recital hall provided more sheer excitement and beauty
of sound than you will experience many an evening at the symphony. A rousing performance (of Beethoven’s Missa
Solemnis) ensured that the (Bard) festival ended on a peak. Mr.
Botstein went for quick tempos and affirmative closures of phrases,
to which Mr. Rosenbaum’s chorus (The New York Virtuoso Singers)
added clear, lively counterpoint and, from the sopranos, exciting
accuracy in the high lines they have to maintain. It was good to
feel the work – so much an appeal to God present in nature
– being shouted into the woods. Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II was
well set forth by four soloists (Turid Karlsen, Ory Brown, Steven
Tharp and John Cheek) and The New York Virtuoso Singers. LISTING: The New York Virtuoso Singers: This polished
chamber choir, conducted by Harold Rosenbaum, is undertaking a series
devoted to choral works of the 20th century. At the outset, in clarity and refinement of sound,
balance, nuance, it is evident that this performance (Andrew Imbrie’s
Requiem) first given, then recorded in New York under George Rothman’s
direction with his Riverside Symphony and Harold Rosenbaum’s
New York Virtuoso Singers is very special. Imbrie’s music requires
exquisite care with its rhythmic intricacy, and expressive finesse
and this is fulfilled here beautifully.
Estimable ensemble (The New York Virtuoso Singers). Harold Rosenbaum is a passionate, dedicated, resourceful
and extraordinarily skilled musician. The performance of my Sonnets
to Orpheus by his New York Virtuoso Singers was one of the best
experiences I’ve had in my long life as a composer. These are
“virtuosi” in the richest sense of the term, which goes
far beyond the question of technical mastery. LISTING: The estimable New York Virtuoso Singers
under Harold Rosenbaum will employ their virtuosity on a wide range
of 20th century choral pieces….A feast for the new-music lover
is promised. Mr. Spano’s program at the Brooklyn Academy
of Music featured the New York Virtuoso Singers…The Mass finds
Stravinsky pining for the 15th century…with intricate polyphony
in the choral part. Saturday’s singers dealt with difficult
music. The Stravinsky’s choral part was delicately done…Bach’s
“Christ lag in Todesbanden” was alert and energetic. In
both pieces the soloists stepped out of the chorus. Katherine Harris,
Nancy Wertsch, James Archie Worley, Martin Doner and Lawrence Long
were all firm, modest presences. Mr. Spano, conducting before a
large and enthusiastic audience, organized it all splendidly. I’ve been wanting to write you for months
now, ever since I heard your splendid performances at the Schoenberg
symposium. The best I ever heard. Mr. Berio’s Sinfonia, for orchestra and a
small choir (the eight fine singers of The New York Virtuoso Singers
in this case) became a bridge connecting the Carter and Adams works.
Mr. Spano and his forces (The Brooklyn Philharmonic) deserve credit
for making it sound so clear-textured and vital. The Canticum Novum Singers and the New York Virtuoso
Singers sang two unaccompanied Schoenberg choral works, perhaps
more heroically than anyone had heard them sung before. The League of Composers/ISCM presented a program
of vocal and instrumental music by The New York Virtuoso Singers,
and it turned out to be a joy. Mr. Rothman and the orchestra (Riverside Symphony)
gave a fine performance of the work, and they promise a recording,
from Bridge Records. They were joined by the New York Virtuoso Singers,
well trained by Harold Rosenbaum, and Lisa Saffer, an excellent
soprano. LISTING: Harold Rosenbaum’s expert 80-voice
New York Virtuoso Singers LISTING: THE NEW YORK VIRTUOSO SINGERS. The man
can’t get his fill of Bach. Harold Rosenbaum, who is embarked
on a season-long run through 25 or so Bach cantatas with one of
his choruses, Canticum Novum, here leads another, a fine professional
group, in six Bach motets. Clearly, Mr. Rosenbaum is passionate
about the composer’s music, and that passion should translate
well in these highly expressive works. Tomorrow at 8 P.M… Nicely sung by The New York Virtuoso Singers,
who lived up to their name. The New York Virtuoso Singers, conducted by Harold
Rosenbaum, gave a virtuosic display of music and of war and peace
on Saturday evening…The 16 voice chorus produced a vibrant
sound. The Juilliard School’s Focus! Festival filled
the entire week. Alice Tully Hall was filled for the final concert,
which featured three of Webern’s most exquisite choral pieces
sung by the aptly named New York Virtuoso Singers. On Saturday night, the New York Virtuoso Singers
under Harold Rosenbaum also made an argument for “Vigil Service,”
which Rachmaninoff wrote in 1915. Mr. Rosenbaum’s chamber chorus
in no way sounded thin, his 20 singers achieving impressive heft…The
group negotiated Wolf’s slippery harmonies with grace, and
also caught the bright, sharp character of Britten’s medieval
settings. This was an unusual and satisfying evening. First-rate pros…These are pieces that Mr.
Rosenbaum and the New York Virtuoso Singers attacked bravely and
skillfully…The effort made on Wednesday was admirable. Under Harold Rosenbaum’s baton, the sixteen
singers gave smooth, polished performances throughout the evening.
Additional musicians joined in a colorful “TeDeum for brass
and organ, and Rorem himself sat at the piano. The New York Virtuoso Singers proffered mellifluous
reading of Rorem’s lyrical compositions. A highlight was the
male choristers’ profoundly affecting performance of the wistful
and devastating “Love Alone.” The New York Virtuoso Singers are precisely that
and more: individual vocal virtuosi expertly united in a virtuoso
ensemble. Polished, sweet-toned readings by the New York
Virtuoso Singers, conducted by Harold Rosenbaum One of my best experiences in my long life as
a composer. The New York Virtuoso Singers not only live up
to the promise of their name, they surpass it! The first-ever guest chorus at Tanglewood’s
annual contemporary music week was the sixteen-voice New York Virtuoso
Singers conducted by Harold Rosenbaum. They managed a demanding
program of Stockhausen, Henze, Perle, Dallapiccola, David Lang and
Rorem. During five nights last week, the Festival of
Contemporary Music at Tanglewood managed to span a small universe
of musical styles: delicate a cappella lyricism (offered by the
New York Virtuoso Singers)…Not a bad sampling for one of this
country’s most important new-music festivals. On Tuesday night, Harold Rosenbaum led the New
York Virtuoso Singers in a series of supple and refined performances
(at Tanglewood)…Finely detailed a cappella works. The New York Virtuoso Singers lived up to its
name. Appearing in the (Tanglewood) festival’s Fromm Foundation
concert, it sang six composers’ music with virtuosic agility.
Intonation, blend, diction, solo work: All were impeccable. The recorded performance shows meticulous truthfulness
to the score and contains shining insight into the texts, intelligent
interpretations of expressionistic examples, polished ensemble and
enviable intonation; extraordinary difficulty seems no obstacle.
The musicians and their recording engineers should be congratulated
for making this impressive music accessible America’s premiere New Music label CRI (Composers
Recordings, Inc.) has released “To Orpheus”, a recording
of a cappella choral works from the 20th-century. The New York Virtuoso
Singers, conducted by Harold Rosenbaum, prove why they are considered
one of the most highly regarded professional vocal ensembles. The 16-voice ensemble certainly lived up to its
name. They were wonderfully led by Harold Rosenbaum, a real go-getter
and ever-growing force on the American choral scene. The art of the madrigal, its creation and performance,
is not dead. In the tradition of Monteverdi and Lassus, a striking
collection of contemporary vocal ensemble works have just been released
on CRI (CD615) that should be heard by anyone with the slightest
affinity to the a cappella heritage. Harold Rosenbaum’s New
York Virtuoso Singers give a performance that encompasses the entire
gamut of emotions. Dear Harold Rosenbaum, Bach would have liked it.
What elegance yet with clarity! What fulsomeness yet with economy!
What appealing music intoned with what intelligent conviction! And
diction! (A writer is allowed three and only three, exclamation
points in his entire career. But your delicious concert has forced
me to use up all of mine at once ---and more.) So thank you. Always, Of new works (new here) since I last wrote, Jonathan
Harvey’s visionary cantata “Forms of Emptiness” was
the most stirring. It was done incisively by Harold Rosenbaum’s,
New York Virtuoso Singers, a choir not misnamed. Mr. Rosenbaum’s sixteen singers are virtuosi
indeed, masters in a contemporary repertory that, but for them,
we would seldom hear. Ravel’s Trois Chansons were poised and
polished. Harold Rosenbaum conducted expert singers and
players. Your chorus is extraordinary. Bravo! Dear Harold: The sounds of your superb performance
of my choral music are still ravishing these grateful ears! You
make the best use of the extraordinary artistry of each of your
individual singers, and I salute you for your splendid accomplishments.
William Schuman’s choral music easily filled
a program at Merkin Concert Hall on Saturday night…thoughtful,
well-sung evening. Mr. Rosenbaum and his New York Virtuoso Singers
also showed that after office hours, Mr. Schuman can be a lot of
fun. The concert afforded an overview of the choir’s
strengths. In the Josquin, and later in Messiaen’s “O
Sacrum Convivium!” and Samuel Barber’s “Reincarnations,”
the singers produced a smooth, beautifully blended sound. They brought
a dark but varied timbre to Debussy’s “Trois Chansons,”
and produced brighter, more outgoing textures in the Passereau.
The choir’s dictation was consistently clear, and the singers
responded ably to Mr. Rosenbaum’s detailed, dynamic shaping. Henze’s “Orpheus Behind the Wire”
– an American premiere – followed. The work was very well
sung by the twelve voices of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Singers,
conducted by Harold Rosesnbaum. The most striking score of the night was the Henze
(Orpheus Behind the Wire), billed as an American premiere. Harold
Rosenbaum and a dozen choristers under the name of the Brooklyn
Philharmonic Singers handled the music in a remarkably confident,
seemingly accurate style.
THE CANTICUM NOVUM SINGERS
The hardy Brooklyn Philharmonic, long an invaluable part of the
New York City music scene, ushered in a new era on Saturday night
with its inaugural concert under the direction of its recently
appointed music director, the fresh-faced Michael Christie...
Glass's radiant paean came across well, the offstage chorus at the
conclusion especially effective.Following the break came the red
meat of the program: Orff's Carmina burana....The combined forces
of the New York Virtuoso Singers, the University at Buffalo Chorus
and Choir, the Canticum Novum Singers and the Westchester Oratorio
Society filled risers at the rear of the stage... the massed
ensemble performed admirably...on the whole, tonight's concert was
a remarkable achievement.
Harold Rosenbaum's adventurous and expert chorus... Solid, colorful rendering of Host's suite by the orchestra and, offstage, by women of the Canticum Novum Singers. P.D.Q. Bach has become a durable industry,
and Mr. Schickele's annual concerts have become ornaments of the holiday
season as well... Mr. Schickele's roster of fine musicians included...,
The Canticum Novum Singers, conducted by Harold Rosenbaum,....all
of whom contributed straight-facedly as Mr. Schickele made an art
of tomfoolery. In its rousing climax, the composer's setting
of Friedrich Schiller's "Ode to Joy," the combined efforts
of the New York Virtuoso Singers, Canticum Novum Singers, and the
University of Buffalo Choir, directed by Harold Rosenbaum, made
the choral contribution a powerful one. The Brooklyn Philharmonic…celebrated
its 50th anniversary….On Saturday evening at the Brooklyn
Academy of Music…Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Mr. Christie's
account of the Beethoven Ninth Symphony was brisk and generally
solid.... The combined New York Virtuoso Singers, Canticum Novum
Singers and University at Buffalo Choir sang with a celebratory
robustness. LISTING: The skilled choral conductor Harold Rosenbaum
works with several groups, including the Canticum Novum Singers,
who are particularly noted for their work in early music. Tomorrow
night the singers present an interesting program.... -Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times, 4/27/01 LISTING: Harold Rosenbaum’s estimable and
adventurous band of singers offers Britten, Isaac… LISTING: This chamber choir, directed by Harold
Rosenbaum, typically gives well-prepared performances of programs
that are interesting and diverse. LISTING: Canticum Novum. In its annual holiday
concert this finely polished chorus, directed by Harold Rosenbaum,
offers six centuries of music… LISTING: Finally, the big day. Here divided between
afternoon and evening concerts, are no fewer than 11 of the 25 cantatas
the chorus (Canticum Novum Singers) is The choir, conducted by Harold Rosenbaum, is one
of several finely blended ensembles that keep New York City’s
choral life lively and interesting. A fine chorus…Mr. Rosenbaum is an excellent
chorus master, and he achieved a refined and restrained sound from
his 26 singers. An elite chorus. An excellent chorus, directed by Harold Rosenbaum. Although I have only worked with the Canticum
Novum Singers once in my life, this was sufficient for me to decide
that the choir is one of the best choirs, not only in New York,
but in the whole of the Eastern United States. Peter Schickele has been presenting his seminars
on P.D.Q. Bach’s life, times and music since 1965 and is offering
his latest findings at Carnegie Hall…Mr. Schickele shared the
podium with Harold Rosenbaum, whose Canticum Novum Singers were
disguised as the Okay Chorale and kamikaze Choir…”Two
Hearts, Four Lips and Three Little Words”, an often gorgeous
choral setting…Wilbur Pauley, Harold Rosenbaum and Peter Schickele
sang “Art of the Ground Round” in a lowlight of the program. Sir Charles Mackerras and the Orchestra of St.
Luke’s marched to their own drummer on Saturday night at Carnegie
Hall with Berlioz’s kindest and gentlest choral work, “L’enfance
du Christ.”…The Canticum Novum Festival Singers made handsome
work of Berlioz’s choruses. The men alone were cohesive and
burnished, and the women’s unseen Angels, heard in crystalline
tones floating down from Carnegie’s rear balcony, were, well,
angelic. The performance Sir Charles Mackerras led with
the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and the Canticum Novum Singers
at Carnegie Hall on Saturday night was serene, literate and deeply
satisfying. The Canticum Novum singers (Harold Rosenbaum, director)
sang with full ness and clarity. And now for something completely different: Max
Bruch’s “Odysseus”…No one but the indefatigable
Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra would have dusted
off this Hellenic curio…I liked Botstein’s affectionate
and committed performance of “Odysseus”, the spirited
contributions of the Canticum Novum Festival Singers, and the warmly
expressive singing of Jeffrey Kneebone and Mary Ann McCormick. Mr. Botstein’s forces, The American Symphony
and the Canticum Novum Singers, had the sprawling score (Max Bruch’s
oratorio “Odyssseus”) well in hand. “Odysseus now
really belongs on records. It would be nice if these performers
could put it there. The Canticum Novum Festival Singers showed the
benefit of Harold Rosenbaum’s training here (Bruckner’s
Psalm 146) and in two sentimental bits of Bruckneriana for male
chorus, “Germanenzug” and Abendzauber”. The opening concert of the American Symphony Orchestra
season at Avery Fisher Hall celebrated the origins of impressionism
in music with excerpts from Offenbach’s “La Vie Parisienne”
and the rarely performed one-act opera by Bizet, Djamileh”…Harold
Rosenbaum’s Canticum Novum Festival singers did very well by
the choruses. Sunday’s concert attracted a large and enthusiastic
audience. The Canticum Novum Festival Singers (Harold Rosenbaum,
director) performed with gusto both as crowds of Parisians and as
the carousing friends of an Egyptian slaveowner. The audience, refreshingly
diverse, gave the performers a prolonged ovation. Harold Rosenbaum, the Canticum Novum Singers,
and the New York Virtuoso Singers brought Bach’s B-minor Mass
to Alice Tully Hall on Saturday night…an excellent combined
choir and first-rate soloists…the sequence Et incarnates est-Crucifixus-Et
resurresit was beautifully sustained. Slow tempos explored the wonders
of Bach’s use of keys within keys. The progress from darkness
to light was well thought out and deeply felt. Harold Rosenbaum led his Canticum Novum Singers
in an unusually varied collection of Christmas works on Saturday
evening…It was sweetly sung, as were the chamber choir’s
accounts of Marenzio’s…”Throw the Yule Log On, Uncle
John” was brightly polished, and Honegger’s “Cantata
de Noel” had a hearty, invigorating reading. It’s P.D.Q. Bach and his merry band back
at Carnegie Hall. Where else would we hear a Safe Sextet or an onslaught
of outrageous choruses? These were sung by Harold Rosenbaum’s
Canticum Novum Vocalizers, an extraordinary cabal. For this listener, the most moving composition
on the program was (Berio’s) “Canticum Novissimi Testamenti,”
an a cappella choral work performed by the Canticum Novum Singers,
under the direction of Harold Rosenbaum. Only a choir as careful in intonation and as superbly
drilled as Harold Rosenbaum’s Canticum Novum Singers could
be expected to clarify its intricate textures (Berio’s Canticum
Novissimi Testamenti) The Canticum Novum’s well-conceived and wide
ranging concert of English music…a superbly controlled yet
expansive performance. The “Amen” at the conclusion of
the Gloria (Byrd’s Mass for 5 Voices) was a model of balance
and tuning…Both Britten works received strong performances...Mr.
Rosenbaum can put together an interesting and demanding program,
and on this occasion his forces met the challenge admirably. The evening offered at the 92nd Street Y by the
Canticum Novum Singers and Orchestra so ably conducted by Harold
Rosenbaum, was the kind of evening you enjoy and relish to the fullest
and remember forever. It is not surprising to learn that this group
under Mr. Rosenbaum, its founder, is now in its sixteenth season
and has been hailed by critics and audience everywhere it has appeared…This
was an evening I will never forget. Handel’s oratorio “Samson” was
given a rare hearing Wednesday in the 92nd Street Y by the Canticum
Novum Singers and Orchestra under Harold Rosenbaum. The performance
in all facets was very fine, and authentic Baroque musical practices
were observed. The Canticum Novum Singers seem never to be far
from one of New York City’s concert stages. Besides its own
series at Merkin Concert Hall, the group is regularly heard in larger
productions that require a chamber chorus…This year’s
undertaking was Handel’s oratorio “Samson,”…The
choir, in “Samson,” serves as both the Philistine and
Israelite crowds, and Mr. Rosenbaum made the most of the differences
in the music Handel gave each side. As the Israelites, the choir
produced a rich, velvety, beautifully blended sound. And while the
blend was never sacrificed in the Philistine sections, Mr. Rosenbaum
elicited a more direct, lusty tone…All told, Mr. Rosenbaum
led his charges through a musicianly, communicative performance. Handel’s oratorio “Samson” received
a stirring, dynamic performance Wednesday night by the Canticum
Novum Singers at the 92nd Street Y…very fine chamber choir…Canticum
Novum was a solid presence throughout this concert. Entrances were
secure, matters of phrasing, dynamics and balance were well in hand.
Ensemble sound was beautifully focused, with a lovely, glistening
top that never veered from straight, true tone. The performance ended with the first American
performances of five exquisitely harmonized choral works by Ravel.
The Canticum Novum Singers put the works forth with a sweet, lush
sound. The programming was most intriguing, as exemplified
by the first integral U.S. performance of Maurice Ravel’s Five
Works for Chorus and Orchestra…These works are simply gorgeous.
The performance featuring the Canticum Novum Singers, seemed ideal. The Riverside Symphony premiered four early unpublished
works by Maurice Ravel at Alice Tully Hall on Monday evening. The
chorus was well-prepared and well-balanced. James Galway, wielding his golden flute and a
pair of concertos, brought a measure of sprightliness and virtuosity
to the opening concert of the Brooklyn Philharmonic’s 35th
season last Friday evening at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. For
the opening and closing works, the Brooklyn ensemble was joined
by the Canticum Novum Singers. The choir’s contribution to
Bach’s mournful Cantata No. 118, “O Jesu Christ Mein’s
Lebens Licht,” was beautifully polished. One of New York’s finest small choruses –
founder-conductor Harold Rosenbaum’s Canticum Novum –
celebrated its 15th anniversary Saturday night with an all-Bach
concert in Merkin Hall. All of the elements of superior choral work
were here: precision entrances and cut-offs; an egoless blend; melismatic
phrases delivered as if in one lone, continuous breath. Throughout
the program the singers maintained an admirable straight, pure tone.
The sopranos had a particularly ethereal sound. Mr. Rosenbaum’s readings are often remarkably
eloquent. The choir was at its best in the motet “Jesus Meine
Freude,” and Mr. Rosenbaum put his group’s finely blended
sound to the service of elucidating the building and subsiding harmonic
tensions in the nine sections Bach put between the simple hymn settings
that begin and end the work. “Joshua,” one of the lesser known Handel
oratorios, was performed most ably by the Canticum Novum Singers
and Baroque Orchestra at the 92nd Street Y on Saturday evening.
Harold Rosenbaum, the conductor, drew wonderful sounds from his
chorus – energetic, expressive, clear, and sunny are the adjectives
that come most quickly to mind. When the text read “the nations
tremble at the dreadful sound,” their voices trembled and sounded
full of dread, and when it read “Heav’n thunders, tempests
roar, and groans on the ground,” there was a nice bit of groaning.
Mr. Rosenbaum showed off a dramatic sensibility, adopting brisk
tempos and pacing movements nicely. What was meant to be, and was, the high point
of the (annual American Guild of Organist) convention was the all-Handel
program presented by Harold Rosenbaum and his Canticum Novum Singers.
Quite frankly, this reviewer cannot recall when he last heard singing
as good as this from both soloists and the ensemble, at an AGO convention. The Canticum Novum Singers pull off a wonderful
feat; their ravishing purity of tone is combined with a robust quality
of expression that avoids the anemic and arty sound that used to
be associated with early music groups. Their performance of one
of the Bach motets was a high point of the concert season for me. The solid and visionary director, Harold Rosenbaum,
conducted. All should be well commended without exception. Canticum Novum is the chorus for me. We’ll
do a lot more together. Thanks for all the fantastic work. It may be that the time is ripe for the canonization
of Charles Ives…For nearly 12 contagious hours the performers
came and went, distinguished names ranging from Jan Gaetani and
Paul Sperry to Canticum Novum and The American Composers Orchestra. The wonderful Canticum Novum Singers The Canticum Novum Singers, under the direction
of Harold Rosenbaum, sang with its customary clarity and graciousness,
with chords and voices balanced and individual lines attended to
without the ensemble being slighted…Henry Purcell’s “Magnificent
and Nunc Dimitis” was elegantly songful. The soloists emerging
out of the ranks of the chorus demonstrated why the chorus as a
whole sounds musically acute because its members are. The performers…were unequivocally superb,
and notable especially for their welcome accenting of all opportunities
for human expression. The Canticum Novum Singers were beautifully prepared
by their director, Harold Rosenbaum. There was much love in these
performances…Elegantly songful. The adventurous Bel Canto Opera presented on Saturday
the United States premiere of Johann Christian Bach’s 1772
“Temistacle.”…The Bel Canto Opera rightly realized
that if only one cause could be served in this production it should
be that of Bach’s music. As a result, the casting was highly
professional…The Canticum Novum Singers brought focus and energy
to the choral passages. Harold Rosenbaum, the conductor of the Canticum
Novum Singers, is a gifted musician and an excellent technician.
His singers are well trained and respond enthusiastically with vibrant
performances of a most skillfully selected, varied repertory. This
group is a valuable addition to our concert life. At the end of February, in Alice Tully Hall, Continuum
presented a concert devoted to the late music of Debussy. It was
good to hear vocal and choral works, and the famous Charles d’Orleans
settings, incisively done by the Canticum Novum Singers. This is the time of year when Christmas music
makes its way into concert halls, but it would be hard to imagine
a more pleasant evening of these folk and religious works than the
program sung by the Canticum Novum Singers under the direction of
Harold Rosenbaum at the Abraham Goodman House on Sunday night. Whether
intoning the graceful imitations of Josquin or Gustav Holst’s
more contemporary settings, whether singing an early Yankee choral
work by William Billings or Felix Mendelssohn’s version of
“Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” the group was sensitive
and controlled. In soft transparent settings, the textures were
almost tactile. Even Frans Gruber’s “Stille Nacht, Heilige
Nacht” sounded freshly musical. The style of the singing shifted
to suit the program. The English version of Haydn’s canon “Die
Gewissheit,” with its repeated line “If I get a Christmas
present, I will really not deserve it: This I know full well!”
fully deserved the audience’s accolades. Anonymous medieval
songs were simply declaimed with a folk like elegance. The concert
was a fine beginning to this part of the musical season. Mr. Rosenbaum’s mixed chorus hit the mark
consistently in both works…His 23-member chorus delivered delightful
results Early this season there was a big choral concert
in Carnegie Hall to celebrate five centuries of publishing by the
Oxford University Press. Seven choruses took part…The level
of execution ranged from the competent but lackluster, through the
capable and committed, to vivid Byrd and Josquin from the Canticum
Novum… Mr. Rosenbaum, a skilled conductor, shaped this
and other passages with affectionate concern, and dramatized the
various textual and musical contrasts without disturbing the lofty
tone of the whole. His 26-voice chorus, now in it sixth season,
responded with confidence and dedication…The Poulenc motets,
written in 1952, constitute the composer’s final religious
work. They are quite lovely, and so was the performance. Mr. Rosenbaum’s smartly trained chorus really
came into its own with ensemble singing of exceptionally high quality…textural
transparency, sharp attacks, and good definition of the music’s
dramatically shifting moods. There was an infectious atmosphere of spontaneity
and immediacy about the Canticum Novum’s concert at Carnegie
Recital Hall on Friday night, the kind of musical freshness that
a small chamber chorus – in this case 20 voices – can
generate far more successfully than a larger one…the Caticum
Novum’s careful attention to phrase shapes, dynamics and the
overall spirit of the music paid its own special dividends. Bach’s
Cantata No. 131 was accompanied by an alert eight-instrument ensemble
whose polished playing provided a perfect complement to the singing.
Harold Rosenbaum conducted, giving the entire performance sharp
musical focus. The remainder of the concert struck a lighter note
with a collection of drinking songs and catches. There a cappella
pieces, by turn impish, bawdy and nostalgic, all responded positively
to the Canticum Novum’s flexibility, musical awareness, and
sunny vitality. …so intelligently programmed and so well
prepared…The 24-member chorus, now in its fourth season, is
a responsive ensemble skillfully led by Harold Rosenbaum…accurate
and unanimous…scrupulously musical. The Canticum Novum Singers is a homogeneous, forceful
ensemble with a good deal of flexibility and a warm tone.
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