Vienna Boys Choir charms Athens audience with ‘Christmas in Vienna’

Mark Gresham | 24 DEC 2024

Widely regarded as one of the world’s most prestigious choirs of their kind, the Vienna Boys Choir (Wiener Sängerknaben) has captivated audiences for over 500 years. Their touring ensemble brought their renowned sound to Hodgson Concert Hall in Athens, Georgia, on December 18 with their tour concert entitled Christmas in Vienna. Under the direction of conductor and pianist Manolo Cagnin, the ensemble presented a richly varied program with works spanning several centuries and genres, a sweeping musical journey blending sacred choral works, classical masterpieces, traditional carols, and popular tunes.

Though titled Christmas in Vienna, if one were not looking through the program list before the concert began, one might have initially wondered whether it was intended to celebrate the holiday season.

The choir opened with Henry Purcell’s Come, Ye Sons of Art, a jubilant ode celebrating creativity and the arts. Composed in 1694 for Queen Mary II’s birthday, its central message is a call to unite musicians, poets, and artists to praise their patron and glorify artistic expression. Fair enough for a festive occasion like Christmas. But it was, strangely, followed by “O Fortuna, Imperatrix Mundi,” from Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, which portrays the fickle and uncontrollable nature of fate, emphasizing how fortune can raise or destroy individuals without warning. Its themes of life’s unpredictability and the capriciousness of human destiny starkly contrast with the celebratory and redemptive themes typically found in Christmas music.

After that came works by three Viennese composers: a vocal transcription of the first movement from Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik with the boys’ voices imitating the instruments without texts, Schubert’s setting of Psalm 23, and Jubilate Deo by Heinz Kratochwil (1933-1995) which came closest so far to the notion of celebrating Christmas.

The choir then shifted to jazz, film, and popular numbers: Oscar Peterson’s Hymn to Freedom, Bruno Coulais’ “Vois sur ton chemin” from the movie Les choristes, and a pair of songs by Swedish pop quartet ABBA’s Benny Anderson and Björn Ulvaeus, “Thank You for the Music” and “Mamma mia.”

Ástor Piazzolla’s Libertango, like the Mozart, was performed without lyrics in a transcription for treble voices but with piano, adding a surprising and lively twist to the program. Then the 1958 popular Italian song, “Nel blu dipinto di blu” – familiarly known as “Volare” – concluded the concert’s first half.

Christmas, per se, would come after intermission.

Opening the second half, Gaudete (from Piae Cantiones) set a jubilant tone with its lively rhythms and Renaissance flair. This energy carried into Karl Neuner’s “Fröliche Weihnacht überall” (“Merry Christmas everywhere”), a charming carol that radiated warmth and enthusiasm, and Joseph van Eybler’s majestic Omnes de Saba venient (“All will come from Sheba”). The Thuringian advent carol, “Maria durch ein’ Dornwald ging” (“Mary walks amid the thorns”) followed. Max Reger’s Mariä Wiegenlied (“Mary sits in the rose garden”) offered a tender lullaby to the baby Jesus as Mary rocks him to sleep.

Heinrich Reimann’s Shepherds’ Song and Andrew Carter’s “A Maiden Most Gentle” brought pastoral charm to the program. The English carol “God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen” and Adolphe Adam’s “O Holy Night, a popular centerpiece of classic Christmas repertoire, followed.

As the program moved into lighter selections from movies, Jay Livingston’s “Silver Bells,” from The Lemon Drop Kid, brought a cinematic nostalgia, while Howard Blake’s “Walking in the Air,” from The Snowman, transported listeners into a dreamy winter landscape. The traditional Ukrainian New Year’s carol Shchedryk (known in its Anglophone Christmas form as “Carol of the Bells”) added rhythmic brightness. Eduard Ebel’s “Leise rieselt der Schnee” (“Quietly Falls the Snow”) painted an idyllic winter scene.

A final medley of familiar tunes encapsulated the celebratory spirit of the season: “O Tannenbaum,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” and “Jingle Bells” ended the program on a warm and joyous note.

By blending centuries-old sacred works with modern carols, classical staples, and popular songs, the evening offered something for every listener.

As the program drew to a close, a festive spirit lingered in the hall, and the choir performed a pair of encores. Even though only the program’s second half was explicitly seasonal, for the gathered audience, the Vienna Boys Choir’s Christmas in Vienna concert was an uplifting, heartwarming tribute to the holiday season. ■

EXTERNAL LINKS:

• Vienna Boys Choir: wsk.at/en
• UGA Performing Arts Center: music.emory.edu/people/biography/bhasin-paul.html

About the author:

Mark Gresham is publisher and principal writer of EarRelevant. He began writing as a music journalist over 30 years ago, but has been a composer of music much longer than that. He was the winner of an ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award for music journalism in 2003.

Read more by Mark Gresham.

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