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Concert
23 September 2007
St Matthew’s Church, Ottawa, Ontario
As part of the St. Matthew's men and boys choir 50th anniversary reunion weekend, 21 to 23 September
Gerald Finley
St Matthew’s Choir directed by Stephen Candow
The concert is a fundraiser for St Matthew’s Church restoration project and a percentage of revenues will be directed towards a choir project.
http://www.stmatthewsottawa.on.ca/
Programme
Händel:
Zadok the Priest, HWV 258
Paul Halley:
“Eternal Gifts”. Commissioned for the anniversary concert
Solos by Gerald Finley and Seth Allison (treble)
Vaughan Williams:
Five Mystical Songs
Gerald Finley, chorus and organ
Mendelssohn:
“Lord God of Abraham” from Elijah.
Gerald Finley
Kevin Reeves:
“Tyger, Tyger…”. Commissioned for the anniversary concert
Gerald Finley
Extracts fromThe Ottawa Citizen, 9 September 2007 (Margret Brady)
…St. Matthew's follows an English choral model that involves regular practices, Sunday morning services, Evensong services and special concerts. This year, its boys sang in Mozart's Requiem, and will sing in Handel's Messiah and an anniversary concert featuring renowned baritone Gerald Finley, a former St. Matt's choir boy.
Now living in England, Finley first learned to sing at the church in Ottawa. At the Sept. 23 anniversary concert, he will sing world premières of works by Grammy winner composer/organist Paul Halley and Seventeen Voyces' founder Kevin Reeves -- both of whom are also former St. Matthew's choristers…
[in a section on former choristers…]
Gerald Finley
Then: Treble in the boys' choir from 1970 to 1975, moving to bass in the men's choir until 1979.
Now: World-famous bass-baritone who lives in England. Has sung in the great opera houses of the world including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Royal Opera Covent Garden in London and the Théâtre du Chatelet in Paris. On Sept. 23, he will sing in a concert at St. Matthew's Anglican Church as part of the men and boys' choirs' 50th anniversary reunion.
Worst memory: "In February 1975, while singing a soprano solo in Fauré's Requiem, my voice suddenly stopped. No sound came out. It was pretty traumatic. Within six months I was in the bass section."
Best memory: "The first time I sang in an opera when the L'Opéra du Québec came to Ottawa in 1971. Also singing with the choir in North of Superior (an early IMAX film screened at Ontario Place in 1971). And the choir's annual sleigh ride was the most wonderful opportunity to throw your fellow choristers off and get them soaking wet in the snow."
Career aspirations: To be a veterinarian. "I worked at the Experimental Farm and studied sciences focused on ... veterinary medicine at the University of Guelph. Experiences working on farms and the Experimental Farm made me realize the work was a lot dirtier than I'd thought -- not just small animals and urban pets. I turned down a science scholarship to Trinity at the University of Toronto."
Choir's influence: "It instilled a sense of professionalism, teamwork and discipline. I liked the drama of the church services -- full of ceremony and orderliness. It was like joining a big club -- and we got paid, of course."
What the critics say
Richard Todd, The Ottawa Citizen, 24 September 2007 [extracts]
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/arts/story.html?id=e579bd27-43e2-4f05-837b-4dc95109cc90
Worthy 50th-anniversary concert. Alumni contributions add spice to performance by St. Matthew's Men and Boys Choir
Yesterday afternoon the choir celebrated its 50th anniversary before an audience larger than you almost ever see in St. Matthew's...
The concert opened with Handel's coronation anthem Zadok the Priest. Conductor Stephen Candow led a well-aimed performance that succeeded within the context of what you might reasonably expect.
Next he led the world premiere of Eternal Gifts by a former choir member, Paul Halley. It's a good piece and though the choir got through it well enough, it deserves a stronger performance. Perhaps another chorus will take it up.
It featured the solo singing of Gerald Finley, and certainly there were no problems there. Treble Seth Allison did a lovely job with his solos, too.
Finley was also featured in the Vaughan Williams Five Mystical Songs, the highlight of the afternoon. It is scored for baritone, chorus and, in this setting, organ. The chorus plays a largely accompanying role and it sounded good. Matthew Larkin's organ accompaniment was well considered and musical, as indeed it was throughout the program.
Finley was also heard in Mendelssohn's Lord God of Abraham, not as fine a work as the Vaughan Williams, but certainly well sung, and Kevin Reeves's Tyger, Tyger. The latter was commissioned for the anniversary.
It's an intriguing and captivating setting of Blake's familiar poem. It was probably written with the exact strengths of the Men and Boys' Choir in mind. They did very well by it.