Christmas Maha-Spectacular

OK, maybe semi-spectacular.

Here’s my Christmas present, which I’m bringing to you with some trepidation, as I fear a lot of hits will overwhelm the host site. But Christmas is a low-traffic day, so … I’ve mentioned I sing with a community chorus, The Westchester Chorale. A local cable company videotaped the chorus’s recent concert and put the video online. So here’s some Christmas music, including the first part of Messiah and Hallelujah Chorus, plus a couple of shorter pieces. Sorry we don’t have an orchestra, but we’re on a budget. (If by chance some philanthropic music lover sees this and wants to become a benefactor, contact the Chorale via the website.) The organist was good, though. If you don’t have software to view it, I recommend RealPlayer, which is a free download.

My personal favorite part of the concert was the countertenor soloist, Jeffrey Mandelbaum. He starts singing just before the 29 minute mark. If you aren’t accustomed to countertenors, prepare for a bit of a surprise. Then enjoy the beautiful voice. The other soloists are good, too.

The host site is a local community cable site that probably gets 100 visitors a week, so if the video isn’t coming up we may have swamped their server. Let me know in the comments.

Enjoy your day.

6 thoughts on “Christmas Maha-Spectacular

  1. Beautiful performance. Thanks for the link. The countertenor is very good and even though I know what a countertenor is, his voice was still a bit of a surprise.

    (I first listened to the concert around 5 a.m. I’ve replayed pieces of it again through the morning. I was trying to think of a joke involving Peter Schickele, his PDQ Bach ouevre and his term “bargain countertenor”, but I couldn’t.)

    I haven’t had any problems with the Chorale’s site any of the times I’ve connected to it, btw.

    • PurpleGirl — I know; I can’t think of the word “countertenor” without dragging Schickele along with it. Anyway, I’m usually not all that fond of countertenors, but Mr. Mandelbaum is exceptional. When we first heard him sing in rehearsal, everyone in the chorus was blown away. The other soloists are all fine singers also, of course.

  2. I had problems both times I went. I’ll try again tomorrow,
    Time for me to finish making Christmas dinner.
    I hope everyone had a great time this Christmas.

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