Note: In the interest of honest disclosure all reviews are presented without omission of any relevant material.

A wonderfully reworked Brahms' Requiem

Seattle Weekly, March 31, 1993
Phillppa Kiraly

Three years ago, the Seattle Choral Company and its director Fred Coleman, performed Brahms' Requiem.

On Match 20, they did it again, but with a difference. In the interim, Coleman had the good fortune to be part of a choral workshop for choir directors and singers given at Carnegie Hall by one of this century's great choral conductors, Robert Shaw. The work they focused on there was Brahms' Requiem. Coleman used his first hand experience of Shaw's detailed preparation of the work and a video made of the proceedings, to prepare his choir to sing the Requiem again. The results were impressive.

As a choir; the company's sound was beautiful--well-ballanced smooth rich clean and warm; each individual voice blended as part of the whole, and the timbre was equally fine throughout. Colemam shaped phrases with infinite care, though there were times when the momentum flagged.

Sopano soloist Cynthia Westphal Johnson maintained fine tone quality and expressiveness, but though baritone Clayton Brainerd has a fine voice, his performance was dull. The orchestra had a few tough edges, was not always together with the chorus, and at times overwhelmed Brainerd.

However, as a whole, the work received a beautifully conceived performance, tender and joyful, upbeat, and even triumphant .