Conductor and Director James Olesen led the Brandeis University Chorus Saturday through their annual fall concert. The Chorus is traditionally comprised of some of the best voices the University has to offer, and this weekend, they shined through their two hour recital with brilliant form and an underpinning beauty. The Chorus has not been cited as a standout in the past several years, but whatever the case in recent years, this year's collection of 52 talented singers hit the mark with a blinding cacophony of sound.
The Chorus itself is an assemblage of four groups: sopranos, tenors, altos, and basses, as are all choirs. The sopranos, the highest female voice part, well outnumbered the other groups in the chorus at 21 members. Led by Lianna Levine '06, the sopranos were cuttingly beautiful in voice, and hit the highest notes with great alacrity.

The far outnumbered tenors, led by Jason Cloen '04, held their ground, and presented a beautiful contrast to the 12 bass members led by Karl Gutwin '04 and Michael Weinstein-Reiman '04.

The most versatile and capturing were the altos, who, led by Grace Allendorf '04 and Mira Elias '06, gave the chorus the soulful echo needed to boost the reputation of the chorus.

Of the two oratorios, a lengthy choral work usually of a religious nature consisting chiefly of recitatives, arias and choruses, the better piece was that of "Jephte," the masterpiece of composer Giacomo Carissimi, a priest and outstanding composer of 17th century Italian music.
One of the most astounding things about the performance of this oratorio was the accuracy in which the chorus hit on the pronunciations of the beautiful Latin lyrics, giving the production a very professional face.

Weinstein-Reiman set the stage as he captured every note beautifully and soundly in the first recitative, "Cum Vocasset in Proelium." But it was Levine as the part of Filia (Jephte's daughter) and Aaron Olson '04 as Jephte who really captured the affection of the audience.
Levine, also of Company B, provided resplendent, haunting, and beautiful tonal inclinations throughout all of her parts as Filia. Olson also gave listeners something to remember in his recitative, "Quid Poterit animmam tuam," displaying the beauty of a well trained male voice.
Other notably delightful pieces included a Historicus by Rachel Lieberman '04, "Cum Vidisset Jephte," which was without a doubt heart-wrenchingly beautiful. Another Historicus bit of "Cum autem victor Jephte," sung by Gutwin was also touching and well performed.
The entire oratorio was so methodically perfect; one could have clocked the perfect rhythm with a metronome and still not encapsulated the ethereal harmony captured by the rapturous chorus.

The second oratorio, which was really just excerpts of George Fredric Handel's "Juddas Maccabaeus," didn't ring as true with the audience as "Jephte" on many levels, yet was still beautifully done. Olesen introduced the piece with a moving explanation of the different arias and pieces of the story that were to be performed, and adhered to moving the audience with the poignant story of the subject. He described the strife, the redemption and the hardship in the story about the fall of the second temple.

The piece opened with two beautiful chorus selections: "Mourn, ye afflicted children" and "Oh, Father, whose Almighty pow'r," both of which were well done and serenely performed. It was especially interesting to observe the overworked muscles of bass Alex Spigelman '07, giving the singer a very odd, but enjoyable visage.

Again, Weinstein-Reiman opened the stage, with an uplifting solo of "Arm Ye Brave." Powerful in his voice and delicious in his descending crescendos, Weinstein-Reiman is truly a pleasure to watch on stage.
One thing that was disappointing was Elias' solo "Tis Liberty," which was flat and off key. Her notes were not captured in the keys that they should have been, and her pitch was somewhat off throughout her piece. And her duet with soprano Rebecca Incledon '04, "Sion Now Her Head Shall Raise," was also lacking in harmony, and it was somewhat apparent that the two should possibly not have been paired.

Eric Goodman's ('07) closing solo "Rejoice, O Judah," was excellent however, and his ability to hit the difficult notes was astounding. Despite his tendency to rock back and forth throughout his solo, his notes were well captured, and his voice was clear enough to resound off the farthest reaches of the theater.

The best part of "Judas Maccabaeus" was without a doubt the duet by altos Allendorf and Lieberman, "O Lovely Peace." Allendorf's full range of notes, paired with Lieberman's hauntingly angelic voice created a harmony unlike any I've heard before. The melodic notes hit the ear and transported listeners to a hypothetically serene place of ephemeral strife and serene beauty. Lieberman and Allendorf's stage presence was short, but well appreciated, and it goes without saying that it stole the hearts of the audience.

Olesen has hit the nail on the head with this winning combination of performers, and whatever he has done to acquire such a crew of singers should not be squandered. The talent that the Brandeis University Chorus shows is incredible, both well presented and beautifully orchestrated. Olesen should be proud, and hopefully the audience will next time be filled.