Partial Messiah and 12 Celli Concert in Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley

Ornate Organ, Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley

I often attended Noon Concert Series at Hertz Hall, University of California, Berkeley, and near the end of the semester, in December, I was able to attend two outstanding concerts - Messiah (Händel), Part I out of III plus the Chorus: Hallelujah, and a concert by the group of 12 cellists from the UC Berkeley Symphony, named 12 Celli.

That concert was my first attendance of a live performance of Messiah (HWV 56), one of the most frequently performed choral works in Western music, by the great German born composer Georg Friedrich Händel.  The University chorus and chamber chorus and the UC Symphony Orchestra, performed wonderfully and at the eve of Christmas, it is fitting for me to post some images taken from before the performance and during the curtain calls at that concert:

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The 12 Celli concert featured twelve young cellists playing three modern pieces and one piece dated 1920.  The 1920 piece, for 12 cellist, had the most conventional cello sound but to me least interesting; while the three pieces composed from 2010 through 2012 for performers ranging from six to eight, created sound sphere beyond the familiar mellow and comforting timbre of cello and wonderfully diverse, defying my preconception of what the sounds a dozen of same instruments could make.

The performance was very captivating and I appreciated what the sounds cello or celli could produce much more. Below are some snap shots of those young musicians at their curtain calls:










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