Soprano shines in Philharmonia’s tribute to Cecilia

[...] although everything in Wednesday’s rendition served to further the general argument, the evening’s chief glory was the radiant singing of soprano Sherezade Panthaki — a breathtaking combination of expressive ardor, tonal clarity, technical mastery and dramatic vividness.

She negotiated the long and sometimes awkward melodic leaps that are scattered throughout the score without missing or fudging a note, yet she did it with enough fluidity that the effect never seemed angular.

Tenor Isaiah Bell, the other soloist, sang sweetly and with commitment, but he was no match for Panthaki — although the two had joined forces on a more even footing before intermission, in a winsome account of a duet from Handel’s early cantata “Cecilia, volgi un sguardo.”

Vocal music is a central aspect of the “Ode,” but not the only one, since John Dryden’s libretto consists of a series of encomiums to individual instruments and their roles — the trumpet that leads soldiers into battle, the flute with its softly mournful character, and so on.

McGegan led the orchestra in a vivid, superbly detailed performance, and there were extended solos from cellist Phoebe Carai (whose expansive delivery of the main melody in the opening aria was nothing short of magnificent), trumpeter Kathryn Adduci, flutist Stephen Schultz, lutenist David Tayler and organist Ignacio Prego.

[...] the chorus sounded excellent, and a quintet of soloists drawn from its ranks — soprano Angela Arnold, mezzo-soprano Heidi Waterman, countertenor Clifton Massey, tenor David Kurtenbach and baritone Chad Runyon — did their parts admirably.