Santa Cecilia’s Day celebrated by Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra.
By URY EPPSTEIN
To celebrate the Patron Saint of music – Santa Cecilia’s Day, Handel’s Overture and Purcell’s Ode were performed by the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra, conducted by David Shemer.The leading role was played by the Collegium Singers. With their full, rich, well-rounded sound, perfect balance, meticulous transparency and, above all, impassioned flexibility, they established the artistic level of the performance.It was unfair to the soloists to make them appear in the oversized dimensions of the Henry Crown Hall. Sara Even- Haim’s lovely soprano, Avital Deri’s appealing warm mezzo-soprano, David Nortman’s bright though occasionally unsteady tenor and Oded Reich’s sonorous dark bass-baritone would have sounded better in a smaller, chamber musicsize hall where their vocal capabilities might have been more obvious.On the whole, it was a fairly enjoyable, though not particularly exciting performance.