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The Choral Society of the Hamptons at the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church under the direction of Gilbert Kaplan. Photos courtesy of the Choral Society of the Hamptons.

The summer concert of the Choral Society of the Hamptons at the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church on Sunday evening, July 13, was quite the ear-opener as they performed an impressively eclectic repertoire, ranging from Bach to Brahms to Mahler, and was directed by the world-famous Mahler guru, guest conductor Gilbert Kaplan.

Guest bass singer Dominic Inferrera cherished the opportunity to perform the "Resurrection Chorale" from Mahler's Symphony No. 2 under Kaplan's direction. "It's a true privilege to be working on the direction of the piece's master," Inferrera said fondly. Inferrera succinctly summarized the theme of the evening's repertoire. "The whole program had to do with moving heavenward," he said.

Stephanie Moslyn, second violinist for the Choral Society for nearly 20 years and the coordinator of the summer concert series' wind instrumentalists, felt that the textual theme of the Mahler symphony was especially meaningful. "The lyrics talk about the resurrection of not only Christ, but of all humans. It suggests that we're all, essentially, eternal beings," she said.

Though certain sections of Sunday evening's repertoire lacked passion and coordination, the concert as a whole was replete with emotion and technical virtuosity. Throughout the evening, the soprano section of the chorus particularly stood out, projecting its parts with heightened lyricism and rhythmic steadiness.

As the crowd began to hush, the chorus members stood up determinedly in unison to sing Bach's "Ascension Day Oratorio." The orchestra sounded very much in sync during the instrumental introduction, the strings playing particularly vibrantly during the contrapuntal sections. The ongoing musical dialogue between the upper and lower string instruments was fluid and cohesive. The chorus was equally unified in its introductory passage, exhibiting good syncopation and a solid range in dynamics. The sopranos were especially daring in experimenting with myriad textures during the oratorio's introductory chorus section, "Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen."

Not all of the Bach choral passages were as striking, however. The final note of the middle chorus passage lacked emotion. Also, guest tenor soloist Richard Slade sounded a bit strident during his subsequent recitative. Guest mezzo-soprano Charlene Marcinko's theatrical facial glances belied her unmoving aria.

Guest bassist singer Dominic Inferrera's recitative, however, redeemed the other soloists' mediocre moments. Inferrera excelled in singing dramatically through the medium of subtle dynamic shifts. "The solo sections in this Bach are very revealing of emotions through subtle musical gestures," Inferrera confirmed after the performance.

Though parts of the intermittent instrumental sections sounded somewhat dull and monotonous, others were strong, such as the section comprised of lyrical and articulately performed pairs of quarter notes. At times, the orchestra seemed to lack the audacity to experiment with a broad range of colors and tones. Overall, however, the lower string section stood out as the solid harmonic and rhythmic backbone of the piece.

During the following chorus and recitative passages of the oratorio, the flutist was exquisite in his lyrical execution of the passages in which the instrument was featured. Its soothing melodies stole the limelight from the chorus, which, at times, lacked subtle dynamics. Though dialogue between the tenor and bass soloists was rhythmically stable, Slade drowned out Inferrera's delicate voice with his rough sound. As in previous passages, the tenor's solo passages were consistently loud and jagged.

Starting off her next solo with slightly staggered breathing, the soprano soloist, Esther Heideman, was vocally smooth upon the refrain of the main musical motif. Heideman's vocal agility shone during the ascending sequence. The instrumentalists, however, overpowered the soloist with volume, such that Heideman sounded as if she were straining her vocal chords to be heard.

Once again, the soprano section was the driving force of the chorus during its final section. The orchestra also ended on a good note, playing its final phrases with energy and rhythmic stability.

The strongest passages of the Brahms's "Ave Maria" were those in which all four chorus sections sung together. While the sopranos toyed with different colors and textures, the tenors and basses provided solid harmonic support. Meanwhile, the organ skillfully served as the rhythmic backbone of the piece.

The pause taken to rearrange the standing places of the choral and orchestral members served as a much-needed intermission for what seemed to be a musically sated audience.

Recommencing with new standing patterns, the chorus began the next part of the evening performance with the Brahms "Rhapsody for Alto, Men's Chorus and Orchestra" under principal conductor Mark Mangini. The orchestral introduction - particularly the horn section - was very dramatic. The ongoing musical exchanges between the mezzo-soprano and instumentalists were lyrical. The dynamic patterns on the part of the singer, in particular, were skillfully echoed by the instrumentalists, and vice versa. As in the Bach oratorio, however, the orchestra's volume drowned out Marcinko towards the end of her solo.
Along with supplying harmonic support, the chorus sang in a heartfelt manner as it chimed in with the solo vocalist and the orchestra. Unlike the instrumentalists, the group of vocalists did not drown out the alto but harmonically enhanced her solo section, intertwining with the lyrical flute, which was one of the most memorable passages of the evening. The chorus's final note was projected with delicacy and was well-sustained, creating an oneiric atmosphere that Brahms surely intended for this final section.

The Choral Society ended the Sunday evening performance with Mahler's "Resurrection Chorale" from Symphony No. 2, arranged for chamber orchestra by guest conductor Gilbert Kaplan.

Guest conductor Gilbert Kaplan.

Terry Keevil, an oboist performing for the third time with the Choral Society, commented on Kaplan's ability to communicate his lifelong infatuation with this symphony to his orchestra. "You could feel [the conductor's] intensity of his inspiration - it really feels like it's his life passion. That coupled with playing the music itself was a very stirring experience," said Keevil.

In an email, Kaplan referred to his obsession with Mahler's second symphony as an inexplicable love affair: "This is in the realm of a love affair and it has lasted a long time. And like love affairs it is difficult to describe the source of your passion - you just know it is there."

The first few vocalist phrases of Sunday evening's performance of the Mahler symphony sounded disappointingly wobbly and unstable. Upon its reentrance, however, the chorus used a subtle range of dynamics that seemed to give the audience jitters. The dialogue between the soprano soloist and the vocalist group was skillfully projected. The soloist vocally moved from note to note fluidly, swelling during the high-note phrases in lyrical fashion. While the first violinist introduced the melody with sophisticated sustaining techniques, the flutist's notes could have been performed more dynamically during her featured section.

The flute section redeemed itself, however, during the following section, in which the instrumentalists projected their notes with acute lyricism. Meanwhile, the chorus once again employed a steady shift in dynamics, allowing the soprano to shine during its melodic dialogue with the mezzo-soprano. The passage sounded truly celestial, and revealed the symphony's majestic qualities that soprano soloist Heideman referred to after the performance. "It really sounds like a choir of angels singing, and brings us (vocalists) out of our bodies for just a second," the soloist said of certain passages of the symphony.

The final choral passage lacked the triumphant energy of the piece's incredibly poignant penultimate section. After subtly shifting textures and volume during the ascending passage, the chorus projected the final notes as if they had run out of dynamic steam. Nevertheless, one could hear the Mahler master's acute musical interpretations played out in the Choral Society's rendition of "Resurrection Chorale."

In describing the weekend experience of working with Kaplan's expert guidance, Keevil alluded to the "very detail-oriented" rehearsal sessions a couple of days prior to the Sunday performance. "[Kaplan] set a certain kind of standard," he said.

The oboist most appreciated Kaplan's ability to communicate a perfectly timed pacing of the Mahler symphony. "The piece is organic, and it needs a lot of time to accelerate and decelerate," Keevil explained. "After a while, it kind of clicked," he said.

Moslyn was particularly impressed by Kaplan's ability to "pull just the right tones out of the chorus" during the Mahler symphony. Moslyn commented on Kaplan's very scrupulous icthus, or baton motion, during the rehearsals of the symphony. "It took some getting used to," she said, "'cause it was so specific."

The violinist, who has witnessed the evolution of the Choral Society during the past two decades, praised this year's group for being receptive to each other's interpretations of the pieces. "The (orchestra) players this year were very sensitive to others' senses of pitch," she said. "We (all) really wanted to make the blend."

 • For more information about the Choral Society of the Hamptons contact them at www.choralhamptons.org.