Weihnachts-Oratorium – 東京バロック・スコラーズ

12月23日荻窪教会にて。100名も入れないくらい小さな教会でのオルガン伴奏によるクリスマス・オラトリオ演奏会。この日のスターは指揮者の三澤洋史氏だった。多分舞台経験の豊富な指揮者だと思うが、自ら朗読する声が素晴らしく、それが音楽ドラマの進行にとてもわかりやすく貢献していた。
この演奏会ではエヴァンゲリスト他ソリストも合唱団員が努めていて、バスは合格点。皆さん大変な曲をこなすなあと聴き入る。あくまでもアマチュアを集めた合唱団で、総じて図抜けた歌唱力を発揮するところまでは行かないが、よく声質が揃えられている団体という印象だった。先月聴いたEnsemble 14はカンタータ中心なのに対して、こちらは大曲という取り組み方の違いがあるのかな。
客席は開場時間にはほぼ満席。祭壇が片付けられた前方に60名もの合唱団員がひしめく状態で、僕の席はバスから2-3mの近さだったので、もう少しバランスの良いところに座りたかった。写真は開演前のスナップです。


December 23 at Ogikubo Church. A small church to contain perhaps less than 100 visitors, and the concert was Bach’s Christmas Oratorio by Tokyo Baroque Scolars with organ accompanied. The highlight of the day was probably Mr. Hiroshi Miura, the conductor who handled narrations for himself with his beautiful voice, and it greatly helped the realization of dramatic progress of the story in music. He must have been associated in stage performances elsewhere.
The soloists as well as the evangelist were picked from the choir members, and the bass was good among them. Singing those difficult pieces is a high challenge definitely as the soloists are required to carry different set of skills. The choir as a whole may not have a remarkable ability of singing, but their timbre was well matched to achieve uniformity.
The seats were already filled as the premise opened, and then after 30 minutes, about 60 choir singers were filled in front of the audience. Where I sat was only 2-3 meters from the bass, and I wished to be seated with better balance of parts.