Imaginative writing for chorus abounds, as in the sense of emotional immobility suggested by the high soprano lines set against a ground bass of lower voices at the opening. Ferko's choral writing is deftly contrasted and handled with ingenuity and even flamboyance, with soaring vocal lines for solo soprano. The imposing bounteous voice of Chicago soprano Rauquaia Hale Wallace made the most of Ferko's stratospheric solo lines. All credit to Heider and her excellent singers for the understanding and expressive eloquence they conveyed. The concert will be repeated 8 p.m. Saturday at St. Procopius Abbey Church, Lisle, and 3 p.m. Sunday at Quigley Seminary Chapel, Chicago.
Some voices are cherishable because they so completely define a particular vocal category.
But others excite us because they seem to transcend all the categories, like that of the Finnish soprano Karita Mattila, who made her Carnegie Hall recital debut on Friday night, with the elegant pianist Ilmo Ranta, her frequent collaborator. Ms. Mattila began her career as a brighttoned lyric soprano. Over the years, her voice, while retaining it lyric cast, has grown naturally in power and resonance. At 38, she is now in her thrilling prime. As Wagner's Elsa and Verdi's Amelia at the Metropolitan Opera this season, she sang with an unforced, focused radiance that many a dramatic soprano would covet, yet with no sacrifice of lyric colors.