Prestigious Russian Choir comes to UGA

On Friday the Male Choir of St. Petersburg gave their first US performance at the University of Georgia's own Hodgsen Hall. The choir has not just one basso profundus but four men who can sing some of the lowest notes humanly possible. One of my favorite soloists, however, was a tenor with a very high-reaching range for a male. 

The first part of the performance consisted of Russian sacred music. A few secular songs comprised the second section of the performance. My favorite of these was "Stop Singing, You Nightingale" by Mikhail Glinka (1804-1857), a haunting and memorable song about "the time when the lively warbling of the nightingale does not inspire the person anymore" (from my program). Here is a video of the Male Choir of St. Petersburg performing it at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki:

I enjoyed the variety of the third section of folk songs the most.   

Although I had never before heard the Ukrainian folk song "Schedrik," which is about a cheerful little bird who predicts a good new year for a family, the tune was already very familiar to me: a new English text made this song into "Carol of the Bells." Originally, the Ukrainian New Year celebrated the coming of spring in April, but with the advent of Christianity the celebration was pushed back to January. To me, the story of the bird is much more rich and interesting than that of bells. 

If you ignore the incorrect imagery of bells and angels floating about the video (imagine a bird that brings spring to Ukraine's families), this is a wonderful version of the original song sung by a female group: 

 

I also enjoyed hearing "Black Raven," a tune I first encountered in the film "Chapayev" for my Russian Cinema class. Quoting directly from my performance program, the black raven is "a symbol of death, circling in the air above a wounded Cossack."

 Every song performed was rich and astounding; I encourage everyone to see the Male Choir of St. Petersburg if opportunity arises!