Evening with Schubert

For its first concert of the 2009-10 season, The Metropolitan Chorus presented two major works of Franz Schubert, his Mass No 2 in G Major and Mass No 6 in E-Flat Major. The chorus' performance was exceptional, as were the organ and string accompaniments and solo sections performed by The Met Singers.

Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828) was an Austrian composer, writing some 600 lieder (songs), 9 symphonies, liturgical music, operas, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music. He is particularly noted for his original melodic and harmonic writing.

Written in 1815, Mass No 2 in G Major (D167) was the best known of the three "shorter" mass compositions that Schubert composed between his more elaborate first and fifth masses. This second mass, commonly referred to as Schubert's Mass in G, was composed in less than a week (March 2-7), the year after his first mass had been successfully performed in Schubert's home parish.

Written in 1828, Mass No 6 in E-Flat Major (D950) was among Schubert’s most admired creations, hardly what one would expect of an ailing composer in his final year. Yet this great mass for five vocal soloists, choir, and orchestra is a bold and innovative work, inspired in its expansive form and abundant counterpoint by Ludwig van Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis.

The concert was held Saturday October 23 at 8 pm at Vienna Presbyterian Church in Vienna, Virginia.

Night at the Opera

For its fourth concert of the 2008-09 season, The Metropolitan Chorus (TMC) presented an evening of favorite opera choruses and solos, featuring the concert verson of Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin. Program selections were discussed during a pre-concert lecture by TMC's artistic director, Barry Hemphill. Solosts included Gina Powell (soprano), Winona Stanback (soprano), Colin Eaton (tenor), and Alvy Powell (bass-baritone).

The program began with Le carnaval Romain, ouverture pour orchestre (Roman carnival overture) by French Romantic composer Hector Berlioz (comprised of materials and themes from Berlioz's opera Benvenuto Cellini).

Opera choruses performed by TMC included:

• Don, din, don - suona vespro (Bell chorus) from the opera Pagliacci by Italian composer Ruggero Leoncavallo


• Va, pensiero, sull'ali dorate (Chorus of the Hebrew slaves) from the opera Nabucco by Italian Romantic composer Giuseppe Verdi


• Coro a bocca chiusa (Humming chorus) from the opera Madam Buterfly by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini


• O welche Lust! (Prisoners' chorus) from the opera Fidelio by German composer and pianist Ludwig van Beethoven


• Vedi le fosche notturne (Anvil chorus) from the opera Il Trovatore by Italian Romantic composer Giuseppe Verdi


• Polovetsian dances from the opera Prince Igor by Russian composer Alexander Borodin

Solo performances included:

• Pleurez! Pleurez, mes yeux! from the opera Le Cid by French composer Jules Massenet


• Where ‘er you walk from the opera Semele by German-English Baroque composer George Frideric Handel


• When I am laid in earth (Dido's lament) from the opera Dido and Æneas by English Baroque composer Henry Purcell


• Tombe degli avi miei from the tragic opera Lucia di Lammermoor by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti


• Vous qui faites l’endormie from the opera Faust by French composer Charles Gounod

The concert was presented on Saturday May 16 at 8 pm, with pre-concert lecture beginning at 7 pm, at Kenmore Middle School in Arlington, Virginia.