December 30, 2009 (Jim Ruggirello, Long Beach Gazette)
Long Beach Chorale Presents Unique Programming

They didn't skip a beat.

One could be forgiven for approaching the annual Wintersong concert by the Long Beach Chorale, the Sunday before Christmas at Grace Presbyterian, with trepidation. Artistic director Eliza Rubenstein is on a brief sabbatical, and so much of the Chorale's quality and artistic profile derives from her.

No worries. Longtime accompanist Bob Gunn rose to the occasion magnificently, conducting as well as presiding at the keyboard, and the result was as musically satisfying as anything the Chorale has done.

The glory of the Chorale is their sound. Description here doesn't do it justice. Beautiful, colorful, exquisitely blended, it must be heard to be believed. Rhythmic security, sensitive phrasing, vivid expression, clear diction, impeccable intonation — yeah, all that. If you thought there would be any drop-off in quality at all from this well-schooled group just because Rubenstein wasn't on the podium, you would be wrong.

Under Gunn's firm leadership, and supported by his usual exemplary work at the keyboard, the concert unfolded with seeming ease as a natural, unforced, perfectly paced series of events. The music-making was invariably authoritative and stylish. We opened with a joyous, exuberant performance of "Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day" by one John Gardner, which set the tone for the afternoon. The packed house just sat back and enjoyed.

The centerpiece of the program was "Frostiana," seven poems by Robert Frost set for chorus and piano by Randall Thompson. Some are for mixed chorus, some for women alone, some for men. Each has a distinct character, and these were fully (and sometimes amusingly) realized out in this performance. Understanding the words, of course, is essential to the enjoyment of this piece, and this was easily accomplished.

The accompaniments are not easy, and an important part of the overall musical structure. Somehow Gunn grew enough hands to cue the Chorale and shape its phrases while at the same time giving a musically and technically dazzling account of the piano part.

The rest of the brief yet substantial program included a fun Estonian carol, "Tooma Laulukoor," a rather fussy and over-complicated arrangement of the "Coventry Carol," and the perennial "Betelehemu" from Nigeria, which really got the place rocking. We closed with a very pretty setting of "O nata lux" by Guy Forbes.

And there you had it. The Chorale is known for, among other things, its interesting, unique programming, and this was an example. Some might complain that the intermission-less offering was a little skimpy, but I've never been to a concert that was too short.

Their next concert will be plenty long, a Brahms Requiem in March at the same venue. Rubenstein will be back, and that promises to be something pretty special. Check out Long Beach Chorale. They're good.

June 10, 2009 (Jim Ruggirello, Long Beach Gazette)
Concert Epitomizes Chorale Sounds

There was a celebration, and a concert broke out.

The season-ending concert by the Long Beach Chorale was an old-fashioned lovefest, with Chorale alumni and founding artistic director Mark Barville returning to join current singers and artistic director Eliza Rubenstein to celebrate the group's 20th anniversary.

An intermission-less program featured a little bit of everything (classics, world music, show tunes, contemporary selections) that has characterized Chorale events over the years, all sung with the polish, beautiful sound and impeccable execution that make this local ensemble's efforts so rewarding for performer and listener alike.

Rubenstein and Barville shared the podium, Rubenstein opening with a rousing version of Aaron Copland's "Zion's Walls" and continuing with a lovely set of Hebrew love songs by everyone's favorite contemporary choral composer, the ubiquitous Eric Whitacre. Violinist Wes Precourt and accompanist Bob Gunn made significantly expressive contributions to the latter. Brahms' "Wie Lieblich Sind Deine Wohnungen" from the Requiem was a beautifully shaped and sung precursor to next season, when the Chorale will perform the complete work with orchestra. Can't wait.

A couple of joyous, dance-inspired numbers, one from Hungary and one from Kenya, framed one of the Chorale's great achievements, James Erb's arrangement of "Shenandoah." Both the Hungarian and the Kenyan selections featured snappy rhythms, intricate counterpoint and unbridled, enthusiastic singing. Each was a hoot.

I remember being blown away by the Erb when the Chorale sang it a few years back. That was in the reverberant acoustic of St. Luke's, the group's former home. This concert was at Los Altos Methodist, and the more spacious surroundings opened up the performance, making it a tad more extroverted, but no less magical.

When Barville took over, he proved to be the big, goofy kid we all remember. And his very special performance of Franz Biebl's "Ave Maria," with current and former singers combined, was as lush, spiritual and heartfelt as his best work from past years. The brief "Erev Shel Shoshanim" was nice, too.

And the festive afternoon concluded with a '30s medley, conducted by Rubenstein with Barville, a fine pianist, accompanying.

Not a transcendent musical experience, but fun. A little Hawaiian farewell (Barville currently lives in Hawaii) was the final grace note.

Rubenstein took time to honor the contributions of Gunn, whose distinctively musical and technically dazzling work has been featured throughout the year.

Twenty years is a big deal, especially for a small nonprofit these days. And the large list of donors and supporters attests to the Chorale's continued success. Barville laid the foundation, and Rubenstein continues the ensemble's tradition of exemplary, professional-quality amateur music- making.

That's worth celebrating.

March 25, 2009 (Jim Ruggirello, Long Beach Gazette)
Artistic Director Conducts Tidy, Spirited Show

Trust Long Beach Chorale.

The hardy little ensemble, celebrating its 20th anniversary this season, can be counted on to deliver a satisfying, well-executed concert. If you like things tidy, spirited, lovely and just plain excellent, then Long Beach Chorale is for you.

Credit artistic director Eliza Rubenstein. She has led this group since 2003, and brought founder Mark Barville's already fine group to lofty musical heights (I'm disregarding the brief and undistinguished tenure of her immediate predecessor, Conductor X). Rubenstein chooses intelligent and interesting programs, and then conducts them with superb musicality. The pace never slackens and the sound is never less than crystal clear, but each phrase is shaped with consummate sensitivity. That's not so easy.

On a recent Sunday afternoon, Rubenstein led a program of relatively unfamiliar works by two beloved composers whose anniversaries we celebrate in 2009. Mendelssohn was born 200 years ago and it has been 250 years since the death of Handel.

Handel's "Dettingen Te Deum" is an odd little, or rather an odd big, piece. It's not a real Te Deum, since it doesn't follow the traditional Latin text, but is rather a string of arias and choruses written to celebrate a victory by the British army over the French at the battle of, you guessed it, Dettingen. The piece proceeds amiably enough, and Rubenstein got an appropriately light Handelian sound from her chorus, and the pick-up orchestra was terrific. Soloists Jenny Spence and Amy Osajima filled their roles capably, and David Stoneman did more than that. Possessed of a lovely rich baritone, he handled (pardon the expression) the coloratura in his part with accuracy and flair.

Pianist Bob Gunn, the Chorale's regular accompanist, stepped front and center for one of my favorite pieces, Mendelssohn's first concerto. Gunn has distinguished himself by playing solos with the group over the years, and none more so than this Mendelssohn.

The Mendelssohn concertos are not as popular as some others, and I'm not sure why. They're certainly chock full of tunes, and demand (and reward) a pianist with the right amounts of technical facility, musicianship and early-Romantic sensibility. Mendelssohn wrote them for himself to play. Gunn has all those qualities. His Mendelssohn flew like the wind in the outer movements, and had just the right tone and touch in the lyrical Andante. There was absolutely nothing wrong with this performance, and a great deal that was right.

I found it curious that the piano lid was on the short stick, but that was probably a concession to Los Altos Methodist's boomy acoustics. In any event, the balance was fine, the orchestra playing its part very well.

Mendelssohn's choral music also deserves to be better known, and the Chorale sang his beautiful a cappella setting of Psalm 100 to demonstrate why.

December 18, 2008 (Jim Ruggirello, Long Beach Gazette)
Little holiday shows can be best

Good things come in small packages.

I attended two holiday concerts over this past weekend. One was the Long Beach Symphony's annual holiday spectacular, with multiple choirs, guest stars, dancers, costumed extras and handbells, along with the orchestra, all crowding the Terrace Theater stage. I'll write about that one next week.

But the Long Beach Chorale's more modest effort, with a chorus of about 50 and a handful of instrumentalists, was in its own way equally enjoyable and satisfying.

Artistic director Eliza Rubenstein, in addition to being a skilled conductor who consistently achieves astonishingly fine results with her all-volunteer ensemble, is a master at constructing programs. This year's theme was "A California Christmas," and she managed to put together a delightful, varied and well-executed program while sticking with the theme.

Rubenstein admitted, in her engaging remarks during the concert, that for some of the composers on the program the connection with California was somewhat tenuous. Carlos Salzedo, who composed two pieces played with sensitivity and skill by harpist Brian Noel to open the second half, was once married to a Californian. And Benjamin Britten, who wrote the other piece Noel played solo (a real work of genius, the Interlude from Britten's perennial "A Ceremony of Carols"), once spent a few months in Escondido, of all places.

Both Kirke Mechem and Conrad Susa hail from San Francisco, and they wrote the two major, though small-scaled, works on this program. Susa's "Carols and Lullabies: Christmas in the Southwest" is a suite of traditional carols from Spanish- and Catalan-speaking countries in both the new and old worlds. The piece was commissioned as a companion to the aforementioned Britten, and the accompaniment adds guitar and marimba to Britten's harp.

The Chorale's performance displayed all the charm and finesse demanded of the piece, and added a special kind of choral beauty, especially on Sunday in the grateful and resonant acoustics of St. Luke's Episcopal Church (Saturday's performance had been at Los Altos Methodist, where the sound is good but more open).

Mechem's piece, "The Seven Joys of Christmas," is a skillful arrangement of traditional carols, and it ended the program. Supported by the always distinguished accompaniment of pianist Bob Gunn, the Chorale again gave a performance displaying their usual qualities of impeccable intonation, rhythmic security and beautiful sound.

Two short pieces, Emma Lou Diemer's "Make We Joy Now in This Feast," the opener, and Rebekah Griffin's "Winter Calling," with Noel accompanying, rounded out the program. And how cool is it to have a harpist named Noel on a Christmas program?

Long Beach Chorale hasn't done a holiday show in a while, and I'm glad they did this one. Evidently a lot of people feel the same way; St. Luke's was packed. The world, and our community, needs their brand of intimate, excellent music making.

And so do I.

February 27, 2008 (Jim Ruggirello, Long Beach Gazette)
Long Beach Chorale Exceeds in Selection, Execution

Classical music is a country for old men.

Face it. We love the classics, and that usually means the provenance of guys who lived and worked in Europe about 200 years ago, give or take. So the latest concert by the Long Beach Chorale covered some pretty familiar territory.

Music by Bach, Haydn, Beethoven and Brahms. It doesn't get more meat and potatoes than that. So what made this concert so special?

Well, the repertoire, for one. Bach's Cantata No. 118, the Haydn Te Deum, a wonderful piece by Brahms called "Nänie" and the Beethoven Choral Fantasy make up a solid but varied program that showcases, in turn, the brass, the chorus and the piano in a lively, deep and life-affirming way.

The Bach, actually more motet than cantata, moves in a single movement from light to dark and may actually have been intended to be performed in a graveside ceremony. The brass parts were originally written for instruments that no longer exist, and their modern counterparts showed a bit of strain. Still, the underlying sentiment came through in a sincere, beautifully executed performance. And that's the second thing that this concert had going for it. The execution.

From the opening Haydn Te Deum, as sunny an allegro as ever was composed (and didn't I date a Sunny Allegro back in college?), through the complex emotions of the Brahms to the grand finale of the Beethoven, the Chorale sounded absolutely fabulous. Only part of this can be ascribed to the acoustics in Los Altos Methodist, the venue for this particular outing. I really think that this chorus, under the direction of the amazing Eliza Rubenstein, consistently makes a truly beautiful, flexible, blended sound that is a wonder to behold.

To make the shift from Bach to Haydn to Brahms to Beethoven is not so easy. Each composer made particular demands upon the chorus he had in his head. And what is incredible is for a chorus to do honor to each composer's demands, and at the same time maintain an artistic integrity, a basic sound that the group can call its own.

Throughout the afternoon (I went to the second show, at 4 p.m. on Sunday) I was continually astonished at how lovely the Chorale sounded, how terrific the blend was, and how everything they and the pick-up orchestra did served the specific piece of music at hand. This concert didn't so much take place as it did unfold, one masterpiece after another being laid out for our delectation.

And, once again, I have to say something about Bob Gunn. The regular accompanist for the Chorale, here he was the featured soloist for the Beethoven, playing the part that the composer himself played, and partially improvised, at the work's premiere.

Gunn is a pianist at the highest artistic level, his reading of this demanding piano part one of the best I've ever heard, and his artistry deserves a wider audience. The only quibble I have is a wish that the piano lid should have been raised, but that might have played havoc with the church's acoustics, which admittedly favored the instruments over the voices.

Whatever. There wasn't much wrong with this concert. And there was a whole lot right.

February 27, 2008 (John Farrell, Long Beach Press-Telegram)
Beethoven's Genius Receives an Encore in Spirited Performance

There was a bit of Beethoven's spirit in the air Saturday night at Los Altos First United Methodist Church in Long Beach, where the Long Beach Chorale and Orchestra, under the baton of Eliza Rubenstein, performed with pianist Bob Gunn filling in for the composer [at the piano].

It was the first of two concerts (the other was Sunday afternoon) that featured music by Beethoven, Bach, Brahms and Haydn, the second of three series of concerts by the chorale this season.

Gunn, the group's regular pianist, doesn't look a lot like the wild-haired, wild-eyed Beethoven, but he has the fiery technique that the showy, not-quite-sophisticated work demands: lots of pounding and passion, a fierceness and unbridled joy that kept bringing smiles to chorale members every time the main theme, which sounds a lot like the Ninth's "Ode to Joy," would come crashing in.

Close your eyes to shut out the modern decor of the church and you could imagine you were hearing Beethoven himself at the keys. Rubenstein matched Gunn's vigor with orchestra and chorale, and the result was 30 minutes of joy.

The evening opened with Haydn's brief and equally joyous "Te Deum," full of the bubbling good humor and contentment that marks so much of Haydn's work.

Here, the chorale swayed to Haydn's rhythmic dynamics, full of passion hardly restrained, praying to God with a smiling, light-hearted spirit.

There was joy, too, in Bach's Cantata No. 118, written as a funeral work. Bach, though, saw death as a transformation and not as sad event, and the cantata is energetic and balanced, with the 50-voice chorale singing against the orchestra's brass instruments.

Occasionally, the brass came on too strong or the church's sanctuary was overwhelmed by the noise level, giving the performance an uneven feel.

Brahms' "Nanie," a setting of a poem by Friedrich Schiller, ended the first half of the concert with a breathless and exquisite beauty, a delicacy and balance of forces that simmered and lingered in the church's vault.

April 26, 2007
Chorale Collaboration Makes Great Music

More, please.

I want to hear many more concerts like the one that took place the other day at the Carpenter Center. It featured, for the first time, the Long Beach Chorale performing jointly with the Camerata Singers of Long Beach and choruses from California State University Long Beach. The program, entitled "Kindred Spirits," consisted of two major and one minor 20th century choral masterpieces. These are all good things.

First, the collaboration. Eliza Rubenstein's Chorale and the Camerata led by Jonathan Talberg (who also directs the university groups) sound great together.

The Camerata has a tad more weight, the Chorale a shade more beauty and clarity of tone. Both benefit from the added numbers. Throw in some well-drilled college kids and you've got a fine, flexible 150-plus voice chorus that can do just about anything.....

And the music was wonderful. The program consisted of Igor Stravinsky's somber, spare and dissonant "Symphony of Psalms" paired with Francis Poulenc's splashy, exuberant "Gloria." For good measure, the concert opened with a work by the prodigious Lili Boulanger, who died tragically young at 25. Her "Psalm 24" gives a tantalizing glimpse of what she might have accomplished had she lived longer.....

The conductors, Rubenstein and Talberg, both demonstrated once again that they are two of our most valuable and talented local musical personalities. Rubenstein's conducting (with stick) was more aggressive and tightly controlled, while Talberg's (no stick) was more laid back and expansive, but those approaches suited their respective works. Both were entirely in command of both chorus and instrumental ensemble.

So call it "Kindred Spirits" if you want to. I call it, a la "Casablanca," the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

November 30, 2006
Spacious Venue Provides Better Acoustic for Chorale

Ah, the open road.

Never been there. I'm usually stuck on the freeway. But that elusive yet oh-so-desirable open road provided an apt, if somewhat loosely defined, theme for the latest concert by the Long Beach Chorale.

This was a rare opportunity to hear the Chorale outside of the friendly confines of St. Luke's Episcopal, its traditional home. The Saturday concert was at St. Luke's but the Sunday event, which I attended, was at Los Altos Methodist, known for its organ if not for world-class acoustics. The Chorale was its usual terrific self, clear as a bell, expressive, colorful and impeccable in intonation. And artistic director Eliza Rubenstein once again devised a clever, original and altogether spiffy program.

We began with a spiritual, the infectious "Walk Together, Children," featuring a joyous, totally committed solo by Denise Parleman. That got things off to a good start. Bob Gunn was again the excellent accompanist, performing the gospel-tinged spiritual with authority and style, and bringing real distinction and character to the more extensive and varied piano part in Charles Ives' picturesque "Walking."

The centerpiece of the afternoon was Norman Dello Joio's "Song of the Open Road," a great piece that received a stellar performance from Rubenstein, the Chorale, Gunn and trumpeter Alfred Lang. This is an example of truly fine American music that nobody would get to hear if it were not for our local choruses.

I remember singing Cecil Effinger's "Four Pastorales" with my college choir, and thinking that the poems were really dumb. But the texts by Thomas H. Ferril (who, Rubenstein noted in her pertinent and entertaining remarks, is as obscure today as is Effinger) are actually pretty neat, full of enchanting imagery and a colorful use of language. Jonathan Marzluf's oboe provided a well-played obbligato to the choir's delicate, balanced enunciations.....

.....The Chorale [came] back, as did oboist Marzluf, for Gwyneth Walker's setting of three traditional American tunes. The set is called "The Rose, the Briar and the Bicycle," and it's a delight. The oboe and piano offer piquant commentary, and the oboe has a couple of solo interludes that nicely frame the songs. The Chorale sang with verve, clear diction and an engaging enthusiasm.

One is compelled, when confronted by yet another superb performance by an ensemble as consistently excellent as the Long Beach Chorale, simply to say that they've done it again. I fear I have to do it again.

April 6, 2006
Chorale's Reputation Grows Rapidly

Word is getting around.

St. Luke's Episcopal was packed the other day for the latest Long Beach Chorale concert. It wasn't that long ago at these things that the performers almost outnumbered the audience.

Part of the attraction this time around may have been Bob Gunn as soloist in Mozart's Piano Concerto in D minor, K. 466. Gunn, the Chorale's accompanist, deserved the spotlight. He has fabulous fingers, and a profound musical sensibility. K. 466 is one of the great Mozart concertos, and Gunn gave it a really distinguished interpretation. Are you listening, Long Beach Symphony?

Alas, the acoustics at St. Luke's, the Chorale's longtime ally, proved to be somewhat of a liability in this case. The piano was overly reverberant, blurring much of the counterpoint and making much of the delicate Romanze sound sluggish and slow. It is a tribute to Gunn that his fine performance shone through the sonic haze.

And the Chorale's artistic director, Eliza Rubenstein, demonstrated that she is not only a terrific choral conductor. Musically and technically, she has it all, and the Mozart showed her total command of conducting technique.

Her leadership was even more remarkable in the second half, Haydn's "Mass In Time of War." Every tempo change, every subtlety of articulation, every artistic nuance and dynamic was clearly shown in her conducting, and the Chorale responded with a bright, confident, joyous performance..... The vocal soloists were excellent. David Stoneman's sonorous bass had the most to do, and he did it very well. The sparkly soprano of Mary Jo Wiedey and Kalil Wilson's smooth tenor also fulfilled their duties admirably. Mezzo Deborah Winsor Williams reinforced the strong impression she made in Bach's "Christmas Oratorio" last year.

And, after a somewhat tentative start (the opening Kyrie is written rather strangely), the Chorale sounded great. The women especially hurdled Haydn's various vocal demands with aplomb. The soprano sound was glorious. The men were fine, the tenors just a little raw and the basses a tad undernourished. As an ensemble, they gave an accomplished, professional-level performance of one of Haydn's greatest masses, capped by a jubilant "Dona nobis pacem."

If you go to the Chorale's next performance, an opera program on June 11 at Rancho Los Alamitos, get there early. The way things are going, you might have trouble finding a seat.

November 24, 2005
Long Beach Chorale Performance Full of Magical Moments

I'm still recovering.

There were moments in the Long Beach Chorale's concert the other day at St. Luke's Episcopal Church that were so beautiful, so magical, so (dare we say) perfect that my poor feeble ear and brain are still processing them.

The entire concert was excellent, maybe the best this group has ever given in terms of consistency. Thanks to music director Eliza Rubenstein's carefully paced programming and authoritative direction, Long Beach Chorale has chalked up yet another success.

It is heartening in this culture that prizes celebrity and wealth above all else, where degenerate is cute and stupid is funny, to encounter a group that believes in excellence and intelligence. This was an all- American concert, the music grouped by geographic region so that we moved from New England to the West Coast with stops in between. The result was a somewhat selective survey of the rich tradition of American choral music.

The tradition began in New England, and two pieces by Revolutionary era composers starting things off on solid footing. William Billings' stirring and familiar "Chester" was followed by Jeremiah Ingalls' lesser known and much less serious "Complainer," about a God-seeker who has trouble finding a preacher to suit his fancy.

One of the aforementioned magical moments was the ensuing tune, Samuel Barber's "Sure on this shining night," with poem by James Agee. The dynamic never rose above medium soft, the blend was exemplary, the diction crystal clear. Great stuff.

Rubenstein usually features a couple of discoveries by women composers and arrangers, and Gwyneth Walker's "How Can I Keep from Singing" was as interesting and memorable as Rosephanye Powell's "The Word was God." The obligatory Moses Hogan spiritual got things rocking, with a lovely solo by Denise Parleman, although the resonant acoustics of St. Luke's work better on the softs than the louds. Things got a bit clangy.

The first half ended with "Meet Me in St. Louis," a tribute to Rubenstein's hometown. Tenor Joe Burgos had as good a time as anyone, not only warbling with an infectious good humor, but also contributing a mean hootchy-kootchy.

After intermission came the gem of the afternoon, James Erb's setting of "Shenandoah." This is not only one of the great tunes of all time, but the arrangement is lovely and the choral sound would be hard to improve upon. Every vocal part could be heard, each was beautiful in its own right, and then all were blended into a seamless, iridescent whole.

Rubenstein is in control at all times. Her arms are as thin and supple as al dente linguine, and they shape phrases that seem to have no beginning and no end.

An interesting setting of the Lord's Prayer from the Santa Barbara mission, and Kirke Mechem's fine arrangement of "Let Us Break Bread Together" brought us to the left coast, concluding this entertaining, fascinating and inspiring musical journey.

Excerpts from "The Testament of Freedom" by Randall Thompson framed the concert at both ends. The choice was apt, the text by Thomas Jefferson reading in part, "The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time."

A timely, and timeless, thought.

May 5, 2005
The devil is in the details

But then, so's the angel, or in this case, the saint. It was the attention to detail that made the Long Beach Chorale's recent concert, "In Search of St. Cecilia," so enjoyable.

As cleverly assembled by music director Eliza Rubenstein, the program honored the patron saint of music. Actually, the historical Cecilia had nothing to do with music, and how she came to be the fine art's patroness made for an amusing tale.

Throughout the afternoon, Rubenstein's spoken introductions were fresh, natural and unpretentious. One might wish she didn't speak so fast, especially in the resonant acoustic of St. Luke's Episcopal Church, but her enthusiasm and friendly manner were undeniably engaging.

After a peppy opening piece by Purcell, the choir essayed two modern unaccompanied compositions, a cool "Solfeggio" by Arvo Paert and the jazzy "Warm-Up" from Leonard Bernstein's "Mass." Both displayed the Chorale's customary attributes: pure, clear sound, excellent intonation and impeccable balance. Every note was well judged and in the right place.

The same could be said for the group of early American songs that followed, and the Daniel Pinkham trifle "Piping Anne and Husky Paul," that closed the first half. One American song, "Amazing Grace," was sung by the male contingent of the group to lovely effect.

An excerpt from Handel's "Ode for St. Cecilia's Day" featured the light, pleasant tenor of Ben McLain, along with some tasty violin playing by Rubenstein herself. Here and in several other selections, the Chorale was supported by technically and musically distinguished accompaniment from pianist Bob Gunn....

Bruckner's "Os Justi" proved the choir's adeptness at more substantial, complicated fare. The piece received a remarkable performance that showed all of the color and expressiveness of the choral art at its best.

A short piece by British composer Herbert Howells and a new piece by Joshua Shank were equally impressive, and the choir displayed welcome power in the closing "How Can I Keep From Singing?" This was business as usual for the Chorale: an interesting program, professional-quality performances and a small but rapturous audience....the Long Beach Chorale, with or without chamber orchestra, is well worth hearing.

December 23, 2004
Long Beach Chorale Back in Top Form

What a nice Christmas present.

As the latest evidence that Long Beach Chorale has recovered its former exalted status as our best local chorus, one need look no further than a fully realized, impressive performance of Bach's difficult "Christmas Oratorio" the other night at St. Luke's.

The group sounds better than ever, and that's saying a mouthful....current music director Eliza Rubenstein is doing a marvelous job. Long Beach Chorale is glorious.

And the "Christmas Oratorio" is no piece of cake. Actually six different cantatas that more or less tell and comment upon the traditional story in chorus, aria and recitative, the work demands a proficient orchestra, fine soloists and a crackerjack chorus.

All were in evidence the other night, basking in St. Luke's resonant acoustics. The chorus dispatched their responsibilities with enthusiasm and clarity, knocking off demanding counterpoint and hymn-like chorales with equal aplomb. The soloists were admirable.....

This was an impressive achievement for a volunteer group. The whole thing was sung in German, which stretched the chorus and taxed the packed audience. That audience, by the way, was the largest I've ever seen at a Long Beach Chorale concert — word must be getting around....it was a polished, professional-level display of choral excellence.

I hope that this group, and music director Rubenstein, are finally getting the recognition they deserve. They've been good for a long time. Exciting things are happening these days at Long Beach Chorale and their performances are worth checking out.

May 6, 2004
Chorale Music Alive, Well Locally; Recent Concerts Worthwhile

....If it's reverberation you're after, there's always St. Luke's Episcopal, where Long Beach Chorale performed their spring concert.

Eliza Rubenstein put together a very creative program on the theme of "Wanderlust," The major work was Brahms' set of Gypsy Songs, Op. 103. In these delightful songs the chorale demonstrated yet again what makes this group special ‹ a wonderful blend and a beautiful sound.

And I think Rubenstein is even managing to improve on the work of founding director Mark Barville. It sounds as though the sopranos are able to produce a more thrilling edge than I remember (in the Brahms, especially) and the diction is decidedly better.... Long Beach Chorale just seems to get better and better.

December 25, 2003
New Chorale Leadership A Musical Gift

Rejoice, a savior is come. No, silly, not that one. I'm talking about the new music director of the Long Beach Chorale, Eliza Rubenstein. Her first concert, Wintersong 2003 at St. Luke's Episcopal Church earlier in the month was impressive, and reassuring.

.....Rubenstein, who also directs a women's chorus in Orange County, is the real deal. Based on the evidence of just one concert, she would seem to have our Long Beach Chorale back on track. For one thing, the sound is glowing again, due partly but not entirely to the sumptuous acoustics of St. Luke's. The beauty, blend and flexibility of this chorus make it a joy and a pleasure to experience.

Her programming is pretty sharp, too. After a brief and delightful opener by Mendelssohn, she offered works for chorus, brass and organ by Gabrieli (which sound great in St. Luke's), a little Praetorius, unfamiliar and modern a cappella pieces by Poulenc and David Childs, and an almost impeccable performance of Daniel Pinkham's "Christmas Cantata."

The concert ended with some delicate Spanish carols delightfully arranged by Gregory Rose and David Willcocks' sturdy versions of five traditional carols. A very smart, balanced program, a bit of a stretch but well within the group's capabilities.

Rubenstein was friendly and natural in her spoken introductions, and the concert zipped along. A large and lively crowd of all ages ate it up, and the chorus looked like it was having fun, too. The audience's enthusiasm caused them to clap at the drop of a hat, often inappropriately, but that's an okay problem to have.....overall, this concert gave notice that Long Beach Chorale is once again a force to be reckoned with.

I can't resist a quote from "My Fair Lady": Bravo, Eliza.