~ Author: Lili Tobias
Tuesday November 26th, 2024 - I don’t celebrate Christmas, but I do love the traditions of music written for the holiday, especially when that music is choral! So this past Tuesday, I attended An Eric Whitacre Holiday at Carnegie Hall. This annual concert is a celebration of Whitacre’s Christmas music, his Christmas-adjacent music, and some other Christmas music by different composers (including Melissa Dunphy who was in the audience!).
Whitacre himself conducted the Distinguished Concerts Singers International (DCSI), part of Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY), which produces concerts around New York that bring together singers from around the globe. This concert featured two different 250-member choirs, accompanied by pianist Kelly Yu-Chieh Lin and the Distinguished Concerts Orchestra. These musicians had only been rehearsing all together for the past two days, but they performed so well together that the short time wasn’t at all apparent. I was impressed with the clarity of the singers’ diction, as well as their ability to reach incredibly low volumes despite how many of them there were. I always enjoy the sound of a really large choir too, since the diverse array of different voices actually enhances the blend of sound.
Whitacre is best known for the enchanting harmonies he uses in his music, in particular his tone clusters. The majority of the program for this concert was indeed very harmony-focused and, overall, very slow moving. While this aspect of Whitacre’s music is certainly beautiful, I find that his music really shines when it’s faster and more rhythmic. There were a few moments of quick music that I absolutely loved, including in the “An Unexpected Turn” scene from his opera The Gift of the Magi. In particular, Whitacre is really good at utilizing odd time signatures to drive the music forward while still maintaining the flow. These moments were a refreshing change, and I bet the singers had so much fun singing them too!
As I briefly mentioned earlier, this concert also included Whitacre’s Christmas opera, The Gift of the Magi. This was actually the world premiere of the orchestrated version, orchestrated by Evan L. Snyder and Whitacre. I was impressed with how the staging was done, given that most of the stage was taken up by 250 singers and a small orchestra. The action took place in the areas on either side of the orchestra, so the characters could travel across the stage for the different scenes. The singers also used the conductor’s podium to sit on or lay down props such as gift boxes. I felt that the production was just right for the venue, and the singing was wonderful too!
This concert had an extremely warm and welcoming atmosphere. It was a family affair all around, as the audience was largely made up of the choir members’ relatives coming to support them. And not only that, but Whitacre’s wife, soprano Laurence Servaes, starred as Della in the opera, and his son (for whom he had written Goodnight Moon) was in the audience. While I won’t be celebrating Christmas this year, I certainly celebrated an Eric Whitacre holiday on Tuesday night!
The performance photos are by Dan Wright.
~ Lili Tobias