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Music fans Wade Graham, Lakin Crane, Ann Ehringer and Mitie Tucker hit a high note at the opening night of the Los Angeles Master Chorale at Disney Hall. Lee Salem Photography

CITY OF ANGELS

Like a little slice of heaven, the Los Angeles Master Chorale kicked off its new season with an opening night performance and gala that was simply divine. Taking the stage in his eighth year as music director, Grant Gershon told music lovers to prepare themselves for something “absolutely breathtaking.” With that, 106 chorale singers took the stage and launched into Rachmaninoff’s rarely heard a cappella masterpiece, “The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom Op. 3.”

With spine-tingling clarity and perfect harmony, the soothing sounds seemed to transport the audience into a Zen-like state, far, far away from Grand Avenue and onto another planet in another place and time.

The performance won rave reviews from gala goers like Wade Graham. “Wasn’t that wonderful?” he marveled afterwards. “Just magnificent.” The exquisite piece also seemed to get the seal of approval from half a dozen habited nuns who were riveted in the upper tiers.

The gala crowd went for classic fashions statements, with black and silver as the dominant shades. At the same time, the chorale’s wonderful women debuted their new Karolyn Kiisel custom-designed black satin gowns. During intermission the stage was reconfigured for the added attraction of an orchestra. Musicians took the stage along with featured soloists Deborah Mayhan, Adriana Manfredi, Daniel Chaney and Reid Burton. They embarked on a powerful performance of Haydn’s “Harmonie Mass.” Adding a little insight, Gershon noted that the work was the final mass in the composer’s long career and said, “By the time he got around to this one, he definitely knew what he was doing.”

The dynamic piece made you forget about PCH, the 405, the stock market and housing dive, and let you immerse yourself in a moment of bliss and beauty. While the mass was showcased as part of the chorale’s multiyear “Homage to Haydn,” Gershon said that both masterworks “convey an overwhelmingly larger-than-life choral experience.”

After an enthusiastic standing ovation and several curtain calls, guests filed into BP Hall for a lavish gala dinner. We may have been welcomed by a snazzy jazz band playing American standards, but what we got was a regal setting fit for a Czar.

“There is a bit of a Russian theme going on here tonight,” Gershon said.

Tables were dressed up in rich red and gold brocade and topped with towering, 41-inch gold candelabras. Inspired by the onion domes of St. Basil’s cathedral in Moscow, they were festooned with enormous pompoms of lush red roses.

There was plenty of specialty vodka on ice along with fennel- cured salmon gravlax, dill honey mustard, pickled bronze fennel and caviar with crème fraiche. In keeping with tradition, dinner festivities featured the group’s famous 360-degree surround-sing -an electrifying experience that brings the entire Chorale right to your table. The specials of the evening included Mussorgsky’s “Coronation Scene,” as well as “Shenandoah” and “The Battle of Jericho.”

Celeb chef Joaquim Splichal, meantime, outdid himself cooking up tasty beef tenderloin with wild mushroom pirozhki, glazed baby carrots and spinach coulis.

One lucky person snagged a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to conduct the Hallelujah Chorus at the Messiah Sing-Along on Dec. 7.

The upcoming season also features Brahms, Copland and Liszt as well as the West Coast premiere of “Sierra: Missa Latina.”

The feast ended on a sweet note with honey-roasted forelle pear and vodka cinnamon ice cream. It was the perfect ending to a delicious evening with gems for the palate and food for the soul. The uplifting event raised more than $210,000, giving the chorale even more to sing about!

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