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 29th 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
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