The choir of twenty-four boys came on stage from opposite ends in groups of thirteen and eleven, respectively, and took up their spots on little risers on either side of a grand piano that was positioned with its lid closed and the keys facing the audience. The thirteen boys on the left were all white. The eleven boys on the right consisted of seven white, two black, one Asian and one middle-eastern. This was to be expected, and I assumed they were all born in Europe and are Europeans just like the rest of them, with ethnic heritage that happens to be from different parts of the world. However it didn't turn out to be that simple, as we'll find out.
A fellow named Manolo Cagnin was the choirmaster for the evening, and this guy was on fire. You can't get more intense than he was without looking like you're actually having a seizure. He sat down at the piano and immediately kicked off "O Fortuna" from Carmina Burana, by Carl Orff. He slammed the first notes on the piano, and his big swath of blond hair thrashed about as he pounded away and emphatically mouthed the words to the choir. The sound of the choir was initially slightly underwhelming naturally, especially starting with a piece like that that we're used to hearing with a massive vocal ensemble. This was only twenty-four boys, so there was a limit to what kind of sound they could produce. I got accustomed to it quickly though.
During the Orff I noticed that the middle-eastern boy and the Asian boy, who were situated in front of one another on the far right-hand side of the choir, didn't seem to be as into it as the rest. In fact, they often looked lost, as if struggling to remember the words. The Asian boy also had a symbol that he would crash during the Orff, and one of the boys on the left side of the piano had a little drum thing that he would beat during that piece as well.
After the first piece was over, Cagnin got up from the piano and spoke to the audience. He spoke about how the first half of the program will be mostly classical repertoire, and the second half will become "more fun" with polkas, waltzes and some pop music and folk songs. He even said something like "I hope the first half won't be too boring" in a humorous tone.
The pieces that followed were gorgeous. Classical, mostly religious music by Eybler, Haydn, Victoria, Schubert and Mascagni comprised most of the first half of the program. The boys voices were angelic, revealing clearly the beautiful classical harmonies and counterpoints in the pieces. In the first or second piece following the Orff, the littlest boy in the choir had some incredible solos. I had actually already noticed him during the Orff; he had the appearance of a prodigy. An extremely bright, competent and thoughtful little fellow, who was also adorable. He couldn't have been older than eight. He sang his solos with absolute purity and clear intent. His voice was like a bell, filling the auditorium completely. After that piece ended he stepped forward for a bow and got wild applause and shouts of approval from the audience.
Once several of the classical pieces had gone by, Cagnin again took the microphone and told the audience that the next three pieces were written specifically for the Vienna Boys 'Bruckner' Choir. They were certainly more modern sounding than the previous several works, but they were beautiful and did not get too dissonant. The first half closed with a "Jubilate Deo" by Heinz Kratochwil, which I don't believe was one of the three songs written for the choir.
After intermission, the second half immediately took on a different energy. They began with "Éljen a Magyar" by Johann Strauss, Jr. and Rudolf Effenberger, which was a wonderful, more upbeat piece. They ended it with a shout. Then came "The Sound of Silence" by Paul Simon, the first real pop song on the program. I recognized the song, and I suppose it's one of the nicer pop songs out there, but it still felt a little out of place to me. Then came "Oh Happy Day" which as you probably know is a gospel tune. Let's get back to the race, culture and assimilation issue now.
It was evident from the beginning of the program that the two boys of African decent in the choir had a very different timber to their voices than did the rest of the choir. This should be no surprise to anybody; they do have different voices. So that alone begs the question: What does "Vienna" in "Vienna Boys Choir" mean? The choir has been around for half a millennium, and the boys of Vienna have a particular sound to their voices that African boys do not have. If the choir had become entirely African, it simply wouldn't sound like what we'd think of as a Viennese choir anymore, even if they were all raised in Vienna. What is the tipping point?
During the first half I had no quarrels with the presence of that complimentary timber from the two black boys. It actually thickened the texture of the choir and added an additional dimension. The clear, bell-like sound of the white boys entirely by themselves would have been just a bit more hollow without the additional texture brought by those of African decent. And with the difference in their voice being an entirely physical thing, it's not as if being raised in Austria and assimilating to Austrian culture could change that.
But then came "Oh Happy Day," a gospel tune, sung in a gospel style, and the taller of the two black boys had a solo in it. Why? If this is a Viennese choir and race is only skin deep, why insert music of a more African style simply because there are two people in the choir who happen to be of African ethnicity? What does their ethnicity matter? Are they not Viennese like the rest? Does culture transcend race or not?
Perhaps it was something on the part of the Viennese. Perhaps they decided that since there are two black boys in the choir, that they ought to give them something "from their culture," even though that's not their culture. This is definitely a very realistic possibility; a white society assuming that someone who isn't white will desire a connection to a different culture. It happens all the time here in America. In any case, I am very curious how it was that cultural assimilation failed to happen in the case of this choir. A Viennese choir is a Viennese choir. Race is a purely physical thing and should not affect the culture of the ensemble.
In any case, the tall black boy stepped forward after the song with his solo, and got an exuberant ovation from the audience. He looked at the choirmaster with a "whoa" look on his face as the shouts and applause hit him. Then they sang a tune from the film "As It Is in Heaven," followed by a tune by the band Abba called "Thank You for the Music," which I again recognized.
By this point there had been a few instances of boys leaving the stage abruptly as soon as a song ends, and sometimes returning before the next song starts, and sometimes not. A couple boys left right after the Abba song, and returned with a music stand and one of them carrying a little oboe. There was an oboe/soprano duet with one of the boys in the song "Nel blu dipinto di blu" by Domenico Modugno. It's a pretty famous tune I believe, it was very familiar to me.
After that, about eight boys from the left side of the piano took off and exited the stage. Cagnin spoke to the audience about how the boy with the oboe had come to him and asked if they could sometimes play instruments on stage, because they're always singing and it gets old sometimes. Cagnin said something to the effect of "I thought, it's dangerous, but it could work. And the next day…" and then he gestured to the herd of boys returning to the stage carrying a trombone, two trumpets and a violin. The audience loved it, and admittedly it was pretty entertaining. I don't know why they had eight or nine boys leave to come back with four instruments though, but it did initially create the illusion that there were more than four instruments.
They then played "Nella fantasia" from the film The Mission by Ennio Morricone. It was an incredibly simple piece, consisting mostly of I V I chords, which seemed to be all that the boys could play on their instruments. It was a gag, that's all.
The rest of the program consisted of a few more folk tunes, and then got into some Strauss waltzes, which are classic Viennese repertoire. This is Johann Strauss, Jr. mind you, not the famous Richard Strauss.
The adorable little boy got another even more impressive solo at one point, after which Cagnin gave him a hi-five and the audience gave him a partial standing ovation. What happened next was kind of amusing. Cagnin needed to bring the applause to an end so they could continue the program, and so he sat down and abruptly started the next piece. It was a really fast one with the choir entering almost immediately after the piano begins, and Cagnin hadn't turned to the right page in his book before starting, so he was fumbling trying to turn the pages after having already started, and the piece fell apart. He stopped playing, made a very quick "cutoff" gesture to the choir, and started the piece again.
One of my favorite parts of the evening, which happened towards the end of the concert, was when the adorable little soloist guy gave out a few shouts and hoots during a song. He was situated in the back row of singers at this point, and out of nowhere he made these festive sounds that I can't even describe. It was absolutely priceless.
At the end of the program the audience gave a complete standing ovation, and when Cagnin gave them a "one more?" look and gesture, they roared with approval, and he sat down at the piano to lead one more song. This song turned out to be another upbeat, almost-gospel style tune in which the tall black boy had an even longer solo than before, again not in Viennese style at all. And after that was over, the audience's applause showed that they wanted still more, but Cagnin made a sleeping gesture to them, indicating that the boys have an early bedtime, and the concert came to an end.
In summary and conclusion, it was a lovely concert. I wish that they had sung more classical, religious music though, and I don't feel that they should be relying on gags like the instrument thing in order to make their concerts memorable. The classical works in the first half were gorgeous; if they had just sung works like that throughout, that should have left a profound impression on the audience. No need to resort to circus antics. Also, this was to be expected, but Cagnin's piano playing was rather unpracticed. It was that sort of desperate sight-reading style of playing where notes are regularly missing and the main focus is on keeping the tempo up to speed and steady. I'm sure he doesn't have time to practice, nor is there much of a need to, since the voices of the choir are the focus of the audience. His playing served its purpose.
Also, this is really random, but I spotted Seattle Symphony principal oboist Ben Hausmann sitting across the way in Box B. I was actually really happy to see that, to see a symphony member take the time to go to a concert. Normally they just don't get around to it because they're playing concerts all the time.
Next up is Mahler's 6th Symphony on November 9th!
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http://www.seattlesymphony.org/symphony/buy/single/production.aspx?id=14453&src=t&dateid=14453
http://www.seattlesymphony.org/symphony/buy/single/production.aspx?id=14453&src=t&dateid=14453
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