Reviews

from The Advocate and Greenwich (CT) Time

In time of war a choral concert, with music that often embodies sacred texts, beautifully sung by an expert choir of accomplished skills, is a great balm to the human heart. Arthur Sjögren, founder and conductor of the Pro Arte Singers, a 27-voice professional chorus, provided such profound solace at the opening concert of their season last Sunday afternoon at the First Presbyterian Church of Stamford.

The concert, marking Pro Arte’s 29^th season, was dedicated to the memory of those fallen in the Sept. 11 terror attacks and to the restorative work of AmeriCares. The group was augmented in the larger works by the Festival Chorus and Orchestra. The first half of the concert was sung a cappella with a pure blend of rich choral sound.

Sjögren conducted with full appreciation of Mendelssohn's quiet, inner spirit and his singers, augmented by the Festival Chorus, sang with a sonorous blend and dead-center intonation that was close to absolute perfection. ... it was deeply touching, profound music impeccably performed.

Barber's vocal setting of his Adagio It provided one of the most moving moments of the program with musical expression of a timeless style that rises to an impassioned climax, directed with unforced intensity by a masterful conductor....

After the applause, Sjögren addressed his audience with the simple message, “May this music be an instrument of peace,” and then led his chorus in a heartfelt performance of “America the Beautiful.” The audience, joining hands throughout the church, sang with them the second chorus. There was not a dry eye anywhere. —John Sweeney

Pro Arte Concert—A Night to Remember; from The Advocate and Greenwich (CT) Time

The Pro Arte Singers, a 26-voice ensemble of professional singers directed by Arthur Sjögren, gave a concert of superior quality Saturday Night at the Norwalk Concert Hall.The concert was an inspiring musical experience, satisfying to the most discriminating connoisseurs of choral singing and performed in a way no other ensemble in the area can match.

Singing music of treacherous transparency in which any vocal blemish destroys its effect, the ensemble maintained a beautiful blend of sound, impeccable precision of ensemble, total reliability of intonation in even the most challenging a capella works, and a graceful, unforced style that never forgot that musical expression was the first goal of performance.

Sjögren is an accomplished choral conductor with disciplined skills and a sophisticated sense of style. His program reflected his wide tastes.

Weelke's madrigals were sung side by side without a break, beautifully performed, carefully nuanced, their naked textures without instrumental accompaniment profoundly expressing the painful quandaries of peoples trying to live their separate lives together.

It was poignant music, very challenging to perform with complex harmonies and passing tones that did not always resolve. Was Sjögren giving musical expression to the current problems of the Middle East and the deep emotional conflicts they reflect? —John Sweeney

Men's Chorus in Fine Voice, from the Danbury (CT) News-Times

In fine voice, the gentlemen offered a program ranging from the Middle Ages to the 1960s, but concentrating on the glories of Elizabethan England. The six male altos sang with a "white" sound, the eight basses with a sound like mahogany. Sjögren led lithely, using rounded and shapely gestures and a way of releasing the sound with a fan of his fingers.

Franz Biebl's "Ave Maria" (1964), a hit these days due to its ripe, insinuating measures came first. It could not be bettered. —Frank Merkling

Pro Arte Begins 27th Season, from The New York Times

As the Pro Arte Singers enter their 27th season, Connecticut's only fully professional chorus can thank its founding artistic director, Arthur Sjögren, for its flourishing life and longevity.

"The system allows us to perfom works that simply couldn't be done with your average choir," said Mr. Sjögren, "on our opening program, for instance, we're performing an exciting but very complex piece by Lars John Werle, a Swedish composer who set a series of poems by e.e. cummings. It's scored for baritone solo, solo octet and eight-part chorus, and requires the singers to maintain pitch throughout its 15 unaccompanied minutes. Only a professional choir could handle something like that." — Robert Sherman

Pro Arte Groups Lush but Restrained in Concert , from The Advocate and Greenwich (CT) Time

The Pro Arte Singers presented a varied program of mostly sacred and introspective music to celebrate their 25th anniversary recently at the Norwalk Concert Hall. Joined by the Pro Arte Festival Chorus and accompanied by the Pro Arte Orchestra, conductor Arthur Sjögren led his combined ensemble with the great attention to detail that ultimately sets his group apart.

Performing a capella, the combined choruses provided a lush, full sound with exceptional German diction. Section by section and overall, the Pro Arte ensemble is beautifully balanced, with only a slight tendency toward steeliness in the soprano section.

Maestro Sjögren's group is always very well prepared, is secure in its entrances and customarily uses dynamic conventions to very good effect. — Carol Patterson

Lovely Sound of Pro Arte Singers, from The Advocate and Greenwich (CT) Time

Throughout this presentation, the sectional blend was excellent, very smooth and generally uniform, with the warm sound again enhanced by admirable diction. The Festival Orchestra proved to be a delight, small enough to blend with the Pro Arte Singers, yet powerful enough to carry their part beautifully and expressively.

Maestro Arthur Sjögren led the ensemble with deftness, sensitivity and assiduous attention to the dynamic particulars of the mostly French program. The musicality of the expanded group was a testament to the attention to detail.

The lush sound of the chorus in Fauré's Cantique, interwoven with expressive accompaniment, resounded sumptuously throughout the sanctuary, floating seamlessly over the audience, expressing the sentiments of the text of this beautiful composition. The sectional blend in this expanded group was excellent, very smooth and uniform, and the warm sound was enhanced by admirable diction.

In his "Mountain Nights," the sopranos and altos broke out within their sections to perform this a capella piece in a "surround sound" configuration around the audience. The deep, rich alto sound was particularly pleasing, and the overall delivery of the interesting harmonic dissonances was very effective.

A truly lovely rendering of Fauré's "Requiem" concluded the day's offerings, with orchestra and voices blending resplendently in this emotionally charged and ingenious composition.

Special mention must be made of the organ and its tremendous contribution, as well as the achingly lovely violin in the "Sanctus." Ellen Sisson's "Pie Jesu" was lovely, and well in keeping with the almost straight-toned, boy-choir sound that Sjögren consistently asks of his performers. — Carol Patterson