Czech girls choir offers beautiful singing
By Sarah Bryan Miller
POST DISPATCH CLASSICAL MUSIC CRITIC
10/30/08
Most of the touring choirs brought to St. Louis by Cathedral Concerts are either all boy (various English groups, the Vienna Choir Boys) or mixed adult. Tuesday, however, was girls night at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis.
The 25 young women of Jitro - the name means "Daybreak" in Czech - are the elite touring arm of a 500-child organization based in the Bohemian town of Hradec Kralove in the Czech Republic. Jitro has an impressive résumé of performances sung and awards won around the world. Based on this performance, they and their director, Jiri Skopal, have earned them.
The girls of Jitro sing with pure voices, remarkable clarity and a near-flawless blend. They're superb musicians.
Their more conventional pieces, which ranged from an anonymous chant to a Pergolesi "Stabat Mater," were lovely. They nailed the tricky "Jaakobin pojat" (no translation provided). Written by Finnish composer Pekka Kostiainen (b. 1944), it was a wild ride, with unusual vocal and physical effects.
Most of the best moments came in the program's second half. The girls seemed to be energized and having real fun. And well they might, with music to sing like "Liturgicke zpevy" by Petr Eben (1929-2007), a brief, zippy Latin Mass setting with a definite Middle European flair.
An abbreviated version of Benjamin Britten's "A Ceremony of Carols" began with a shockingly idiosyncratic reading of the opening "Hodie;" then Skopal and the choir settled into a fine reading. The unnamed soloist in "Balulalow" did a beautiful job. It would have been nice to hear the entire work.
There was a pre-concert performance by choirs from three local Roman Catholic girls high schools: the Ursuline Academy Chorus, the St. Elizabeth Academy Singers and the Frontenac Voices of St. Joseph's Academy. They stayed to hear Jitro; then all four choirs merged for the concert's finale.
Unfortunately, the piece chosen for that finale, Oscar Peterson's "hymn to Freedom," is a piece of sentimental rubbish, and unworthy of such fine young musicians. It was pleasant to have the massed choirs in the chancel; it would have been better to hear them in a more worthwhile song. It would also have been helpful to have more translations in the program.
2 comments:
Oscar Peterson's "Hymn to Freedom" is the unofficial anthem of children's choirs worldwide, and it expresses the yearning for freedom and equality with feeling which resonates today, 45 years after its origin. It was also adopted by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement in the USA. It is a very important, moving piece of music. Have you ever heard it before? Have you done any research?
My kids thoroughly enjoyed the entire, and especially listening to Jitro, a truly world-class group if ever there was one. Their astonishing musicianship at such a young age is remarkable, and for ANY AGE it was absolutly top-drawer. I really think they're better than MOST professional groups I have heard, in terms of balance, blend, precision, and so much more. I have never seen my students so rapt in attention to anything, espcially including my direction. The parents of my students really had their eyes opened as to what is possible with high school age girls' group. We enjoyed the whole day. Dr. Skopal is an absolute delight.
Neal Frederiksen, Director
The Choir from Ursuline Academy
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