San Jose Symphonic Choir and Nova Vista Symphony have quite the grand finale

The symphony was preceded by Ralph Vaughan Williams’s brief but pastorally beautiful “Serenade to Music,” with Choir director Leroy Kromm conducting. This work is a setting of a speech in rhapsodic praise of music from Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice.”

Originally for solo singers and orchestra, the “Serenade” has been arranged for various combinations of soloists and choir. Friday’s performance featured the choir with one soloist, soprano Kayla Wilfong. Wilfong is a singer with an extraordinarily powerful and carrying voice. Her diction is crisp and precise. She powered through everything she sang. She did the same thing in the Beethoven, her voice towering above the other soloists, even though her work there was all in ensemble.

The chorus, though its numbers were somewhat limited, was also fairly strong, with a gratifying fullness to its sound. The outstanding section was the sopranos, whose assuredness and intonation were excellent, even when Beethoven requires them to sing at the very top of their range.

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 was his last, his grandest and largest. It and the “Missa Solemnis,” which he composed at the same time, were the peak of his composition in choral and orchestral forms. Beethoven was proud of his achievement. The words to the symphony, taken from the “Ode to Joy” by the German poet Friedrich Schiller, had been on Beethoven’s mind for decades. With the unmistakable and unforgettable melody he created here, he felt he had found the perfect setting for Schiller’s rhapsodic declaration of love for the whole world.

Nova Vista music director Anthony Quartuccio conducted the Beethoven. He led it with an emphasis on flowing continuity, unifying the sometimes abruptly shifting character of the movements. That the volunteer orchestra was able to respond to this advanced direction was a mark in its favor.

The symphony is only choral in its finale, so that gave the Nova Vista instrumentalists three movements to play by themselves. The small size of the orchestra in this monumental work sounded sometimes a little thin. When Richard Gillam’s timpani were beating, however, the sound beefed up sufficiently to carry heavier passages in all the movements.

Not all of the orchestral sections were fine or even adequate. But without casting aspersions, the reviewer can give warm compliments to the violins in the Adagio molto slow movement, which gave Beethoven’s melodies with pure elegant grace. Solos by concertmaster Rick Shinozaki were especially notable.

Came the finale, the “Ode to Joy,” and the chorus filed back on stage and the four soloists also appeared. The first sung words, and most of the solos, belonged to baritone Joshua Hollister. He had a strong and distinctive voice, simultaneously light-bodied and deep-toned. This combination made for an arresting performance. Tenor Carmello Tringali and mezzo Kathlen Isaza had gentler and less emphatic voices, while Wilfong, as mentioned, strode mightily over everything. The chorus maintained its strength in Beethoven’s challenging writing.

This powerful singing concluded a successful run through this monumental musical work.

Both the San Jose Symphonic Choir and the Nova Vista Symphony perform regularly in the area, the choir usually in Mountain View, San Jose or Campbell, and the Symphony in Mountain View or Cupertino. Their 2025-26 seasons have yet to be announced.