The Oratorio Chorale’s final concert of the season, “A Musical Banquet,” at Midcoast Presbyterian Church in Topsham on Sunday afternoon, had a huge number of courses, ranging, in musical terms, from beef Wellington to American chop suey.

The program, devoted primarily to songs of spring and love, ranged from a profound aria from Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas” through Broadway musical numbers to a set of two arrangements for hurdy-gurdy, complete with monkey (stuffed).

In addition to works for chorus, the concert offered members of the chorale an opportunity to showcase their individual talents, beginning with Fred Cichocki and Judson Duncan’s “O Mimi Tu Piu Non Torni,” from “La Boheme,” which was best when the two tenors supported each other.

Cichocki soloed in Rachmaninoff’s “In the Silence of the Night,” and “Standchen,” a lively but foreboding song by Brahms.

After a spritely “Three Little Maids from School” from “The Mikado,” sung by sopranos Ruby Shields-Morse and Lucie Teegarden and alto Jean Webster, Duncan returned with “O Del Mio Amato Ben by Stephen Donaudy, which was a little forced. He was better in Charles Ives’ “In the Alley,” whose broad humor invited a more casual approach.

Todd and Jennifer Geiger had a fine sense of Broadway style in “You Must Meet My Wife,” from Stephen Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music.” Even better was the duet between Betsy Connelly and Rick Polkinghorn in “Song that Goes Like This” from “Spamalot,” a musical based on “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”

Connelly’s triumphant high soprano note at the conclusion was both appropriate and startling. She also gave a creditable performance of the familiar “O Mio Babbino Caro” from Puccini’s “Gianni Schicchi.”

Particularly impressive was a set of soprano solos by Anja Forche: “Ah, Belinda,” from Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas,” “The Lark” by Engelbert Humperdink and “Long Time Ago,” by Aaron Copland. Not only was Forche at home in three widely different styles, but her clear, well-pitched soprano and easily understandable diction set off these lesser-known works distinctively.

The most unusual solos of the afternoon were by Mike Knudsen and his modern hurdy-gurdy, in his own arrangements of “Playing With Matches,” by Susan Conger and “Tobin in the Morning,” a jig by Cammy Kaynor. Both were funny, nostalgic and enchanting.

The chorale itself, and its ensembles, were uniformly excellent in difficult selections by Randall Thompson, Benjamin Britten, Gerald Finzi and Pablo Casals.

The Casals was a revelation to anyone who knew only his cello compositions – a richly polyphonic and tuneful setting of verses from “The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.” Fortunately, the chorus sang it in Latin, avoiding the pedestrian modern English version.

The chorale, under director Peter Frewen, excelled in clarity, delineation of voices and dynamic range. Best of all, it now has more basses than altos or tenors. The benefits were obvious.

For the finale, the capacity audience joined the chorus in “It’s a Grand Night for Singing.”

Christopher Hyde’s Classical Beat column appears in the Maine Sunday Telegram. He can be reached at: classbeat@netscape.net

 

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