by Patrick Valentino

Newton, MA, 12 December 2009.  In an event entitled Gloria: A Renaissance Christmas Pageant, voices and instruments mixed with live action to create a multi-disciplinary meditation on the Christmas story in the First Unitarian Society in Newton.

The collaborators in this evening of music making and dance were the 7 female voices and the ensemble of period instruments of Cappella Clausura, the sacred dance company Creationdance, and, as was revealed at evening’s end, we the audience as well.  The concept of providing an acted dumb-show while Medieval and Renaissance music filled the air was admirable and mostly well-executed.  In fact, except for a very few logistical hiccups or the occasional artistic faux-pas, this concert was one of the most impressive I’ve seen and heard in a long time in concept alone.

Deserving of the lion’s share of praise are the heavenly voices of Cappella Clausura – a group of 6 (sometimes 7 when director Amelia LeClair joins in) female voices that exhibit impeccable unison tuning, liquid dexterity, and an ensemble tone color which, forgive the cliché, is pure gold.  In unison sections, the many voices so perfectly united as one that, unless the listener saw all mouths open and heard sound coming from each member, s/he would swear it was a solo voice.  The range of the group is likewise impressive, easily spanning over 2 octaves over the course of the evening, and sometimes close to that within a single piece!  The group performed as a sex-/sep-tet as well as providing duets, trios, and the occasional solo.  Of particular note was soloist Christina Calamaio who, midway through the concert sang a dynamic 17th century composition as varied and demanding as any operatic mad scene.  Throughout the work’s many twists and turns, Calamaio was always in command with a shining tone, effortless execution, and tasteful ornamentation, which was both imaginative and informed.

All of this praise for the voices is not to discount the instruments of the ensemble, which also performed exquisitely in concert.  As the voices were used differently for different pieces, so the orchestration changed through varying combinations of lever harp, console organ, vielle, gamba, lute, oud, and percussion.   As is always the case with period instruments, the occasional re-tuning of an instrument did disrupt the flow of the pageant, but this is unavoidable and the price one pays to hear the works performed with an authentic flavor.

Creationdance, the troupe of dancers (in residence at the First Unitarian Society) provided a visual element to this musical evening in 2 main ways.  During certain numbers of the program (which comprised 15 works), the audience was treated to a dramatization of the Biblical events alluded to in the music Cappella was singing, created with evocative gesture, dance, and an inventive use of puppetry; however the troupe danced throughout every number, at times simply providing Renaissance steps choreographed to the music and without any dramatic connection to the ‘action.’  I applaud the inclusion of the dancers, both for providing another avenue for the audience to connect to the story of the evening, and the historical link of providing a kind of living iconography, perhaps not at all alien to this music when it was first performed.  This effect, however, could have been heightened by using the dancers more sparingly, to highlight select dramatic moments in the story.

So, we have a winning combination of a stellar group of singers, an ensemble of period instruments, and a dance troupe providing living depiction of perhaps the most classic and universal of Biblical tales, the Christmas story.  What ties it all together is the music, and it was here that the core interest of the pageant emerged.  Cappella Clausura chose 15 musical moments taken from an all-female roster of composers, from the 12-century abbess and mystic Hildegard von Bingen to contemporary composer Patricia Van Ness, with all stops in between.  Amid this cast were many from the 14th to 17th centuries, a time when most writing by females was restricted to convents, and even then often in secret.

The colorful combination of all of the women’s unique voices, coupled with the simple fact that many of us may not have ever heard a piece by Chiara Margarita Cozzolani (a hyper-dramatic forward thinking 17th century nun) or Sulpitia Cesis (a Renaissance writer in the Baroque era) was a rare treat, and fit the purpose of the evening perfectly.  The evening closed with selections from the 15th century Lauda di Firenze, a Florentine hymnal which encouraged congregational singing.  For the final number, we the audience became the congregation and were invited to join in singing the Alleluia refrain, printed handsomely in the program.  While the overt invitation for us to sing also served to break the flow of the pageant somewhat, all was forgiven once we joined (or tried to keep up) with the ensemble in the final musical moments of the evening.

All in all, this event is highly recommended – this reviewer found it a welcome release from the hectic pace life seems to take at this time of year.  Those seeking religious solace, fans of early music, families, and those interested in multi-media performance will each find something to treasure.  This event is something special – Cappella Clausura’s tagline is “performing 12 centuries of music”, and few if any ensembles can claim that.  See our calendar for details of the repeat performance on 20 December next.