Heav'n & Nature Sing: Holiday Choral Concerts
A BUNCH OF outstanding choral groups call the D.C. area home, and it seems that every one of them will sing a program of "holiday" music (98 percent Christmas, 2 percent other) this month. Though pretty much all of these concerts will suffice to get you in a basic holiday mood, a few excel in particular ways.
Best Visual Effect:
For their Christmas Candlelight Concerts on Dec. 16 and 22, the members of the Master Chorale of Washington will indeed carry (electric) candles as they file into a darkened Kennedy Center Concert Hall, singing all the way. As the candles mass onstage, so does the sound.
» Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. NW; Dec. 16, 1 p.m., and Dec. 22, 4 p.m., $20-$69; 202-337-7464. (Foggy Bottom-GWU)
Least Familiar Repertoire:
If you've had just about enough damn holiday classics pumped into your eardrums, the Cantate Chamber Singers present a concert of lovely, underheard Christmas works by English composer Benjamin Britten — "A Boy Was Born" and "St. Nicholas" — on Dec. 9 at St. Paul's Lutheran Church. Also, the ensemble Chantry brings it really old school on Dec. 15 and 16, singing Christmas works by English Renaissance composers Thomas Tallis and William Byrd.
» St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 4900 Connecticut Ave. NW; Dec. 9, 3 p.m., $30; 301-986-1799. (Van Ness-UDC)
» St. Paul's K Street, 2430 K St. NW; Dec. 15, 8 p.m. (Foggy Bottom-GWU); and St. Bernadette, 70 University Blvd. East, Silver Spring, Dec. 16, 6 p.m., $30; 202-625-2855.
Most Talkative:
Marvin Hamlisch leads the National Symphony Orchestra Pops concerts with equal parts baton and patter, and the NSO Pops holiday concerts (Dec. 13 through 16 at the Kennedy Center) typically offer a wide-ranging yet kid-friendly melange of accomplished performers, all drawn together by Hamlisch's gut-wrenching puns and effusive encomiums.
» Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. NW; Dec. 13 and 16, 7 p.m., and Dec. 14 and 15, 8 p.m., $20-$85; 202-467-4600. (Foggy Bottom-GWU)
Best "Messiah" Alternative:
Festive choruses! Solos ranging from divinely serene to boisterously joyful! Tunes you'll hum for days! Bach's "Christmas Oratorio," which the Washington Bach Consort performs Dec. 7 at Strathmore, packs just as much firepower as the "Messiah," plus it has the secret weapon of Lutheran chorales.
» Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, Bethesda; Dec. 7, 8 p.m., $21-$55; 301-581-5100. (Grosvenor-Strathmore)
Best Alternative "Messiah":
Who better to pimp out this Baroque classic than Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? Lil' Wolfie added woodwinds and horns to Handel's orchestra and tweaked some arias. The New Dominion Chorale presents the result for your consideration on Dec. 9 in the Schlesinger Concert Hall in Alexandria. Or if you're the DIY type, the NSO's annual "Messiah" singalong is Dec. 9 at the Kennedy Center. Show up early, 'cause it's popular.
» Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall, 3001 N. Beauregard St., Alexandria; Dec. 9, 4 p.m., $25; 703-442-9404.
» Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. NW; Dec. 9, 2 p.m., free; 202-467-4600. (Foggy Bottom-GWU)
Written by Express contributor Andrew Lindemann Malone
Photos courtesy Strathmore (Washington Bach Consort) and Kennedy Center (Marvin Hamlisch)
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Addison Road
This fine list fails to mention The Choral Arts Society. (http://www.choralarts.org/concert_xmas.html)
By Dominic Marcellino , Posted November 29, 2007 3:40 PMI'm surprised the Finnish carols they will sing didn't win "least familiar", and local talent Alvy Powell will lend his voice to the holiday cheer. I've been three years in a row and I've loved each time.
The Choral Arts folks always put on a good show; . The list was not intended to be exhaustive but to spotlight concerts that caught my eye.
If you've actually heard both of those Britten works, I'll...I was going to say "I'll give you a dollar," but let's just say I'll be very impressed.
By Lindemann , Posted December 3, 2007 9:22 PM