Slavyanka is not a Russian chorus but a chorus that sings Russian music. One difference is the decidedly American sound–comparatively lighter vocal quality, more forward tone, and more emphasis on upper parts. With this 21-year-old San Francisco-based choir, we definitely don’t feel the weightiness of the singing exhibited by most true Russian male choruses, even in the relentlessly cumbrous work song, “Song of the Volga Boatmen”. For me, this is a plus–you can hear the individual parts in a context of clearer textures–but this cleaner delivery also deprives the music of some of its native flavor. The generous program offers 22 songs in various arrangements taken from famous Russian ensembles such as the Red Army Chorus and Don Cossack Chorus as well as from the pen of the group’s current and former directors. Also included are four pieces from a cycle by Mussorgsky, the last one, “Along the River”, unfinished at the time of the composer’s death. Slavyanka charmingly performs it just as Mussorgsky left it, the unison melody just trailing off into silence. It’s remarkable how evocative the songs are–inspired by the inevitability of the landscape and history, the vast expanses of open land, huge forests, rivers, war and more war, Orthodox chant and hymns, and village life.
I’m not particularly fond of Slavyanka’s first tenor section, which occasionally sings just a shade under the pitch, and makes it worse by its strained sound, as if the part is just barely too high. Although this is a very experienced and oft-recorded group, it’s not a professional choir and there are moments–in the solos and in some of the more difficult pieces and passages–that we’re reminded that these are amateurs, albeit committed and sincere and talented ones. The most Russian-sounding and best-performed works are “Sacred Love”, written by Gyorgi Sviridov in the 1960s, and “Soft Ukrainian Night”, by Rodion Shchedrin, originally for women’s chorus. I was disappointed in this choir’s rendition of the traditional Georgian song “Shen Khar Venakhi” (Thou art a vineyard), which is one of the most beautiful and perfectly crafted pieces of its kind–absolutely remarkable in its simplicity yet stunning in its use of harmony and discretely moving lines. I’ve performed this lovely little song many times with the Peterborough Children’s Choir, and Slavyanka’s tediously plodding tempo and slightly sagging intonation (those tenors again!) destroys the natural ebb and flow that really makes the piece. The liner notes are full of interesting information about each of the selections and, in an unusual gesture of respect for the music’s origins, the texts are presented in both original Cyrillic and transliterated forms as well as in English. The sound is okay during the full ensemble sections, but the soloists are unnaturally spotlighted.
