Christmas past meets future
Two big performances kick off the festive season with the right mix of new and old
Christmas in the Orpheum Friday, 8 p.m. | Orpheum Theatre
Tickets and info: from $20, vancouverchamberchoir.com All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 Saturday, 3 and 8 p.m. | Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Tickets and info: from $35, chorleoni.org
The dilemma is obvious. Everyone thinks they want new musical content for the holiday playlist, but the holidays are when tradition rules. Luckily, some organizations do manage to get the balance just right.
Two early events will demonstrate how it’s done: the Vancouver Chamber Choir’s big show at the Orpheum Friday night, and Chor Leoni on Saturday.
The Orpheum program showcases not just the VCC but the Pacifica Singers, the Vancouver Youth Choir, harpist Vivian Chen and a brass ensemble. Plus, there’s a good deal of valueadded material, starting with the world premiere of Derek Healey’s A Posy for the Christ Child.
“The new pieces just came out of the blue,” said conductor Jon Washburn. “Derek said: ‘I’ve been intending to write these for some time, and I’ve decided to dedicate them to you and the choir, and here they are.’ ”
Repertoire includes Magnificat by Schütz and Hernando Franco, the music master of Mexico City’s cathedral in the late 16th century. And when you invite brass to the party, there has to be music by Giovanni Gabrieli, and there’s Daniel Pinkham’s charming Christmas Cantata as well.
The program ends with a sentimental homage: carol arrangements by David Willcocks, who died in September.
“To my generation he was very special because he was turning out just about the only listenable recordings of choral music with the King’s College choir,” Washburn said.
“I was raised on those recordings, a really important part of my early choral appreciation. We recorded these carols about 1974; I sent a copy to him, and he sent a really nice note back, saying: ‘You performed these old pieces as if you had just discovered them!’ ”
All is Calm: the Christmas Truce of 1914 is the brainchild of Chor Leoni’s artistic director Erick Lichte and writer Peter Rothstein.
“We wrote the piece together in Minnesota, as a radio show with Minnesota Public Radio, done live on the air,” said Lichte. “The year after that we decided it needed to have stage life. Since then, it has been licensed out; last year we had 14 groups licensing it for production. I spent the first part of November setting up a Midwest touring version, and next year there will be a national U.S. touring ensemble. Chor Leoni did six performances last year in the Playhouse. Much to the choir’s own surprise, all the voices held out.”
Transferring the show to the supersized Queen Elizabeth Theatre is another matter.
“Luckily, last month we were in the QE with Ballet B.C. You have to be miked — there’s no other way to deal with that enormous stage — but I was amazed at what we could do in terms of choral sound. I’ve decided that it’s a fabulous venue.”
Chor Leoni makes Remembrance Day an integral part of their performance year; the story of the Christmas Truce of 1914 extends that tradition.
“Canada has a particularly strong connection to the First World War,” Lichte explained.
“The World War I Christmas truce happened all the way along the front at different times in different locales, so this staging enables audiences to get a better sense of the scale of the events.”