Word: basse
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Neither of the first two arias in Cantata #80 are exceptional pieces. David Buchner negotiated a painfully difficult bass part with good control. The string ensemble accompanying him was sharply attentive to dynamics: filling out in their tutti passages and quickly dropping back during the singers' sections...
More remarkable for its content and execution was the brief bass recitative, sung by Charles Hefling. Hefling sings with a baritone's lightness and ease. He gave intelligent emphasis to the text; were his range a tenor's, he would make an admirable Evangelist for the Passion settings. Ronald Coons, singing the tenor recitative, fared badly in comparison where his vibrato obscured his diction. He was much better, joined by alto Paula Shepard, in the duet which was the climax of the piece...
...BACH was only part of the Evensong's music. One of the anthems was Maurice Greene's Lord, let me know mine end. The Greene was almost funereal in quality and was lent a somber cast by the walking bass throughout the movement. The exceptional quality of the Choir's string accompanists was evident in their first entrance: they were even in their attack and in tune without the dead quality that comes from intonation obsession. The soprano soloists were well-matched and in good balance with the rest of the ensemble...
...which were not quite sharp, or quite clean. A pizzicato effect, in the second movement, was missing. The French horns and bassoons were excellent, and the symphony--like most well-known pieces--was a definite crowd-pleaser. One departure from the strictly traditional was the use of only one bass. Most orchestras the Bach society's size would have at least 3 or 4 double basses. Yet the use of only one was quite pleasant, giving the orchestra a buoyant sound...
...gently, "but say 'lady' a little faster, Dave; she's a fast lady." He turned to the band. "Don't get loud there at first when you go into the five chord, because he is whispering something filthy to her." The three guitarists, drummer and bass player nodded, jotting down numbers and symbols on scraps of paper to indicate chords and dynamics...