Georgetown Bach Chorale : A Winter's Evening : February 21, 2009 : Norval Presbyterian Church : brief review

Last night, I attended this concert at the Norval Presbyterian Church in Norval, Ontario. It was a nice collection of baroque music, variously performed by a small string section (2 violins, 1 viola, 1 cello), a 24-member choir, harpsichord, and recorder (voice flute?) in a small church with excellent acoustics.

The performance's title was "A Winter's Evening". It was very appropriately-named as the winter weather outside was terrible, as were the roads. But what a nice contrast between the harsh outdoor weather and the comfortable and warm indoors of the church.

I enjoyed this presentation and particularly the live sound of the harpsichord and a quality recorder (as opposed to those plastic ones I remember having to play when I was in elementary school!). The choir sounded full and very smooth and well-rounded. The acoustics and warmth of the church were also very nice.

But, I think I may have been spoiled by the wonderful violin performance of Conrad Chow in their first performance as the ones here were not as good, although obviously far better than many people could do and impressive when considered on their own and in context. At least one of the violins did consistently sound a bit out of tune, though.

Overall, though, it was very enjoyable and another great opportunity to see this type of music performed locally.

Hopefully not breaking any copyrights, I have made a copy of the programme available as a PDF.

Technorati: Georgetown Bach Chorale, review