Reviews of Quintessence concerts

Albuquerque Journal, March 3, 2002
Joanne Sheehy Hoover

Last Sunday afternoon two Albuquerque choral groups, the all-male de Profundis and the mixed-voice Quintessence, joined forces at Immanuel Presbyterian Church for an engaging program titled "de Altis ad Profundis," Latin for "from the Heights to the Depths." It is the first time these two groups have given a joint concert, and they obviously enjoyed exploring the possibilities their combined forces offered.

The two directors, Michael Cooke of Quintessence and David Poole of de Profundis, clearly share certain sensibilities and tastes. Both hone in on a refined, subtly shaped vocal sound that smooths out rough edges without losing the energy of a vibrant projection. And both, as this afternoon reflected, have a flair for programming.

The concert went high and low in multiple ways, ranging from vocal range and physical location to its choice of literature. It also went dark and light, in both vocal colors and emotions.

It opened on a lyrical note with the full forces of Quintessence in two radiant songs by Dvorak, rendered with fine balance and clear articulation. The group then turned to a surprising arrangement of what would seem an unlikely source, Ravel's piano piece, "Pavane pour une infante defunte." The text supplied to Ravel's delicate study worked more than would have seemed possible, centering about the phrase "enchantment holds a sleeping child in nature's dream."

With Ravel's harmonies shifting wondrously in the piano accompaniment, it proved quite effective. The Quintessence set then came down to earth to finish off with a Schumann song about gypsy life.

The de Profundis singers then took over from the choir loft at the rear of the church with a carefully shaded rendering of the wistful "Linden Lea" by Vaughan Williams. Back down to the church front, in a nice contrast of vocal color, the women of Quintessence continued the folk vein with three American mountain ballads in fresh and unaffected arrangements by Ron Nelson.

The note of longing continued with a nostalgic song "The Banks of the Ohio River" by Lon Beery from de Profundis in the balcony. After a tender rendering by the women of "Weep No More" with its refrain like falling tears, de Profundis came down from the balcony and up in mood to end the first half with a comic song about a singing serpent "with a soul."

The second half proved an equally arresting mix that highlighted the richness of the male sound in the fertile territory of Russian sacred works. With Poole and Cooke alternately directing, their luminous spirituality was deftly revealed.

  

 

 

Quintessence
PO Box 51041
Albuquerque, NM 87181
(505)294-1690
info@quintessence-abq.com