Bernstein Choral Celebration

Sat Nov. 17, 2018, 8pm
Danielle Talamantes, soprano

Brian Cheney, tenor

National Philharmonic Chorale
Strathmore Children’s Chorus
Stan Engebretson, conductor

Selections from
Mass 
Candide 
West Side Story

The exuberance, panache, and joyful celebration of life that characterize so much of Bernstein’s musical idiom are in full display in his choral music. Bernstein had an affectionate relationship with the human voice, and in his sacred and secular choral works he infused it with drama, pathos, and unfailing theatricality. The ever-popular Mass, a work that strides the boundaries between the sacred and the secular, is a flamboyant, extravagant work that taps into the collective joy of music making by bringing together choirs, instrumentalists, and dancers in an exhilarating piece of musical theater. The selections include the famous Almighty Father chorale and movements for youth chorus and soloists, such as Simple Song. The whimsical Candide refashions the charm and wit of the traditional operetta for a modern audience. In numbers such as The Best of All Possible Worlds and Make Our Garden Grow, Bernstein presents a picture of life at its most joyful, young, upbeat, and innocent. By contrast, West Side Story presents a rough, no nonsense take on Shakespeare’s Rome and Juliet, with music of enormous vigor, passion, and poignancy as it chronicles the doomed love of two passionate youths. Selections include perennial favorites such as Tonight, One Hand, One Heart, and others.