San Francisco Classical Voice

Another first: Old First as a glorious concert hall! Granted, it's hard to believe, and these ears — victims to hundreds of painful acoustical experiences in the barn on Van Ness — kept feeding data of dubious veracity to the brain. And yet, it was true. The boys, positioned on risers, the large audience cushioning the house, and — above all — Keil's control, balance, and dedication to a tranquil sound combined in a full, rich, echo-free aural environment totally unexpected from the venue.

However clear and pleasing Ragazzi sounded at times, quality varied widely. Granted, there was some context, including an unusually intense storm, blackouts in several San Francisco neighborhoods, traffic snarls, the boys being on the final of five concerts in two weeks, and three of the young singers falling by the wayside during the concert. "Falling" is not the right word: At various times, and apparently unconnected, three of the boys sat down — carrying out in a disciplined fashion their instructions about how to behave if they felt dizzy or unwell. So they sat down, in the middle of the music, awaiting a break and helping hands to leave. One of the three actually stood up again, and refused to leave (until more or less forced) — showbiz traditions start early.

Another distracting factor was the occasional absence of Keil from the podium. When an assistant conductor was in charge, the classic William Billings A Virgin Unspotted and even He's Got the Whole World in His Hands sounded as if performed by an entirely different group: one without much cohesion. With Keil, such contemporary but classically beautiful works as Franz Biebl's Angelus Domini and Burt's Some Children See Him came through extremely well, with the boy sopranos shining in the latter. Pianist Denis Moreen and organist Douglas Franks provided yeoman's service throughout the afternoon.

The program was long, ambitious, and varied, ranging from "Negro Spirituals" (so said the program) to William Billings of the 18th century, to an American Shape Note hymn, to many contemporaries: William Walker, Srul Irving Glick, Z. Randall Stroope, Moses Hogan, even — arrrrggghhh! — Andrew Lloyd Webber, whose syrupy "Pie Jesu" was redeemed by soloists Tommy Economou and Chris Vail.

Not as well known up here in the stormy North as in San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz, Ragazzi has a membership of 130 singers in those regions, ages 7 to 18, from 86 schools in 26 Bay Area communities. The chorus has just completed its 19th year, and it has recorded four CDs. That last one, just out from recording sessions at Skywalker Studio, is "Magnificat, My Spirit Rejoices."

There is a strong marketing drive from the chorus administration, who mentioned the CD four times in the first three sentences of the program. Art imitating life imitating art, the concert tour which just ended on Sunday was advertised as "featuring a few pieces from our latest CD release." Imagine then how grievous a surprise it was to hear Keil announce that Glick's Psalm 23 would not be performed, but "you can buy the CD"! Tsk, tsk — what if MTT picks up on the idea and the Davies Hall audience is directed to the store to buy the latest Mahler, instead of hearing it live?

Beyond that bit of commercialism (an idea not entirely alien to the season), there was much cheer, including audience participation in Joy to the World, We Three Kings, O Little Town of Betlehem, and Go Tell It on the Mountain.