Interview by William Chan
Coro Perosi (“Perosi choir”) conductors João Ng Seng Hong and Katrine K. Wong told The Macau Post Daily last week that their choir will be performing this coming Sunday at St. Dominic’s (São Domingos) Church and on Saturday, December 3 at Yuet Wah College to celebrate Italian composer Lorenzo Perosi’s 150th birthday and the choir’s 25th anniversary.
The exclusive interview, held at the choir’s rehearsal room near S. Miguel Arcanjo Cemetery, was also joined by director and soprano Fernanda Cheang Siu Chan, choir president Young Lam Peng Leong and choir member Lai I Meng.
Coro Perosi, founded in 1997 and registered as a non-profit music organisation in April 1998, aims to promote the art of choral singing, cultivating interest in music and boosting the local musical culture. It has hosted numerous music concerts in various countries, performing in music styles such as religious hymns, a cappella (Italian for “in the style of the chapel”), Chinese folk songs, and Broadway musicals.
The music of Lorenzo Perosi
Since a very young age, the choir’s founding conductor, who is now grey-haired, has been enchanted with Perosi’s music.
“Perosi’s music always has a special place in my heart. We sang many short choral pieces when I was young on different occasions, but Perosi’s pieces are only sung when there’s a Mass. Perosi’s music is very well-structured – he made use of every section to convey his emotions. Every time I sang his compositions, I became very excited,” Ng said.
Wong agreed with Ng, stressing that besides being well-structured, Perosi’s pieces are very refined and requires the performers’ full concentration to express his music. “The compositions look deceptively simple – they are not. Our choristers combine their diligence and genuine fondness of music during the rehearsals,” Wong said.
“The musical thoughts in the mind of Father Perosi far exceed those of mine and [composer] Pietro Mascagni put together,” Ng quoted Italian opera composer Giacormo Puccini as having said.
Nonetheless, the Catholic Church announced in 1962 that church music should be localised and choral pieces should be sung in each region’s own language, Ng said, adding: “Almost no one sang Perosi’s pieces in the 70s until now in local churches, because Latin was used in his compositions.” Ng noted that Coro Perosi, which is outside the Catholic system, has the freedom to carry on Perosi’s Latin choral pieces, and thus he chose three of the Italian composer’s music pieces as the programme for the first-half concert, coinciding with Perosi’s 150th birth anniversary.
Miserere Mei Deus (Latin for “God have mercy on me”) – a formidable challenge
Gregorio Allegri’s Miserere Mei Deus is one of the most difficult songs the choir has faced, Ng said. “Miserere was influenced by the Venetian polychoral style: our choir has to separate into two independent choirs, each of which, although with fewer singers, are responsible for singing alternately and joining together at the end. The piece is also without instrumental accompaniment, adding extra difficulty to the choir’s tuning and rhythmic control,” Ng said, underlining, “but what makes the piece elusive to many is the daunting ‘high C’ to be sung by a soprano. We are fortunate enough to have conductor Wong who is also a soprano and has an astounding range and voice to handle the relevant part so that the piece is achievable.”
According to Ng, there are two major reasons why he chose Miserere, despite its difficulty. “On the one hand, I want to ensure that our choir is constantly moving forward and taking up new challenges such as Miserere – this is crucial to the vitality of any music organisation.
On the other hand, the Sistine Chapel Choir, the pope’s personal choir, performed Miserere in Macau in 2014. However, the Sistine did not sing Mendelssohn’s version with the enchanting high C, which was a bit of a let-down. I have always desired since then to present Mendelssohn’s irreplaceable version of Miserere to the local audience,” Ng said.
Lam and Lai both noted that Miserere, which is also in Latin, indeed posed a challenge to the choir, but they are more than excited to take up the challenge. “We have been rehearsing this piece since early this year, from learning the pronunciation of the Latin vocabulary to singing and coordinating with each other. Sometimes a rehearsal session takes up to four hours,” Lam said. Nonetheless, Lai, who is in his eighties, added that he seldom gets exhausted, because he has loved singing with Ng and Lam for the past 25 years.
Besides pieces composed by classical composers, the concerts will also feature two pieces composed by Lam and Ng respectively, as well as Rodgers and Hammerstein’s show tune “You’ll never walk alone”.
Cheang noted that the first concert will start at 8 p.m. on Sunday at St. Dominic’s Church, while the second concert will start at 6 p.m. on Saturday, December 3 at Yuet Wah College. The show is free of charge and there is free seating as well, on a first-come, first-served basis.
Monsignor Perosi passed away in Rome on October 12, 1956.
Coro Perosi performs in Eisenstadt, Austria in 2011. – Photos provided by Coro Perosi
Coro Perosi performs in a Church in Taipei in 2018.
Conductor Katrine K. Wong and bass singer Young Lam Peng Leong (right, front) perform at Macau’s St. Dominic’s Church in 2018.
This photo shows João Ng Seng Hong conducting Coro Perosi during an anniversary concert In 2019.
Coro Perosi performs a local composition in Lisbon in 2013.
