San Francisco Classical Voice

CHORAL REVIEW A Surpassing Russian Choir
The Real Thing

February 23, 2001

By Bruce Lamott

The voices of Chorovaya Akademia, a 15-voice male a cappella choir from St. Petersburg, filled the vast spaces of St. Ignatius Church to overflowing Friday night. It's a pity that the audience did not do the same, because the resonant sonority of this ensemble created a transcendent listening experience. Returning to the Bay Area under the auspices of San Francisco Performances, the group specializes in such Russian orthodox liturgies as the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 42 by Pavel Chesnokov (1877–1944), which made up the first half of the program.

Under the direction of Alexander Sedov, the chorus produced an elegantly burnished tone with impeccable intonation and ensemble. There was a clarity and finesse to their singing that surpasses the sometimes muddy and strident tone of other Russian choirs. The center of gravity favored the bass and baritone parts, tapering to a rather gentle (even limpid at times) tenor section. So finely tuned was this group that the individual sections merged into a cohesive sonority, from the octave doublings of the bass to the highest overtones of the tenors. Sedov's conducting was fluid and graceful, with a modest economy of gesture that produced extraordinary control and a tightly unified ensemble.

The Chesnokov liturgy begins responsively, with the alternation of bass intonations, sung by a formidable but uncredited soloist, with choral responses. The nine movements of the work present a variety of choral settings, from antiphonal effects in the opening litanies to a sturdy fugue in the final chorus. The high point of the work is "The Cherubic Hymn," a work replete with chromatic suspensions preceding a virile "alleluia." This contrasts markedly with the austere folksong quality of the "Our Father."

A Re-Orienting Hosanna

With nine movements in the first work and 12 in the second, separated by slight pauses, it was easy to get lost in the copious texts. The absence of a transliteration of the original Russian to accompany the text translations in the program was frustrating in a repertory so clearly focused on word painting. We Russian-impaired could only hope for the occasional "alleluia" or "hosanna" to reorient us in the text.

The mystical quality of the St. John Chrysostom liturgy was enhanced by the crimson caftans trimmed with gold braid worn by the performers. Based on traditional costumes worn by the Moscow Synodal Choir at the end of the 19th century, the attire reinforces the link between the Chorovaya Akademia and the traditions of this unique choral tradition. Their appearance in white tie for the second half marked a change to a secular repertory and style that lacked the distinction of their liturgical singing.

It was risky to devote the entire second half to the 12 movements of Living Constellations, a work written for the group last year by Anton Viskov (b. 1965). Very appealing on paper, Viskov's choral poem is dedicated to the new millenium and draws on a variety of texts, from a 13th century Persian to a contemporary Muscovite poet. The composer describes it as "a meditation on the eternal struggle of Good and Evil . . . and on the true purpose of mankind on Earth." Its impact was undermined, however, by an eclectic musical style that seemed locked in the 1950s, somewhere between Fred Waring and the Hi-Los.

While individual movements had surface appeal, the work as a whole lacks cohesion. The intensity of the lyrics requires more than the conservative seventh- and ninth-chord harmonies and cloying Latin syncopations. Viskov's style is reminiscent of the St. Olaf-inspired collegiate choral writing of the 1960s. Even his melodies border on cliché. The men sang the profound texts with great precision, but too often with a dispassionate liturgical mien. Their memorized encore (a paean to the czarist patriarchy), however, was infused with a vigorous personal engagement that would have been welcome earlier in the evening.

(Bruce Lamott is choral director of the Philharmonia Chorale and the Carmel Bach Festival. He is also an instructor in music and Western Civilization at San Francisco University, and conducts choral classes in the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Extension Program.)