Word: cantatas
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These failings were not overcome after the intermission, but the singing was so spirited that they became less detrimental to the total effect. The final music on the program, an Epiphany Carol by Addiss and the Choral Cantata No. 150 of Bach, required the support of a small instrumental ensemble, which accounted for much of the vigor of the performances. The Bach Society Chorus is a gathering of casual singers, who in their enthusiasm are vicariously, if not always musically, entertaining...
World Music Festivals (Sun. 2:05 p.m., CBS). Igor Stravinsky conducts his cantata, Les Noces...
...Knew Too Much (Paramount), a remake by Alfred Hitchcock of his 1935 thriller, is almost buried beneath the weight of Technicolor, Vista-Vision and an endless Storm Cloud Cantata performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and the Covent Garden Chorus. Indulging his taste for contrast, Hitchcock takes an American family-so glossily normal that it might have popped out of a refrigerator advertisement-and sets it down in the eternal grime of Marrakech, Morocco. The family: Jimmy Stewart, a surgeon from Indianapolis; Doris Day, his songbird wife; Christopher Olsen, their typically cute son who thinks North Africa looks just like...
...bitten by a stuffed tiger, and gets deft performances from both Stewart and Doris Day. But the pace grows laggard toward the end. Instead of using music as a background for action, Hitchcock moves it up front, and moviegoers must sit still not only for the dismayingly long cantata but also for special numbers sung by Doris Day. The chief drawback of these musical stage-waits is that they allow the audience to think back over the story and conclude that it doesn't make much sense...
Living up to its name, the orchestra also played two Bach cantatas. The first was a solo cantata for baritone, strings, oboe, and continue, Ich hab genug (No. 82.). The orchestra was beautifully conducted by Greenebaum, but soloist Gary Gaines was clearly unequal to the taxing vocal line. His voice lacked support, volume, and depth; and his breath control was insufficient to sustain the phrases. The other cantata, Wachet auf (No. 140), fared better. The chorus, numbering only twelve, was well trained by Edward Lloyd, and bass soloist Thomas Beveridge sang with feeling. The soprano soloist was Sara-Jane Smith...