Terms of endearment: Vienna Boys’ Choir, Spanish piano duo

The youthful charm, spontaneity, vocal discipline and "angelic" voices of the Vienna Boys’ Choir remain unchanged at each visit, for which reason it is consistently one of Austria’s top "export" items. The ages of the singers, who performed at the Philam auditorium last week, ranged from 10 to 14, and two of them looked so tiny, the scheduled performance seemed way past their bedtime. In fact, whenever the tiniest held up the score, his face entirely disappeared from view.

The program was obviously aimed to appeal to young audiences, most probably because proceeds would go to the educational needs of the children of war-torn Basilan. (For this, the nation’s gratitude to Philam chairman Joey L. Cuisia, Jr.).

Accordingly, the choir interpreted popular songs, including some from Broadway and Tin Pan Alley, to which the full house responded heartily. For the second part, "Songs from Around the world" – Europe, the US, SA, South Africa and Asia, with our own Pamulinawen thrown in – the applause grew even "wilder" as the youngsters, discarding their traditional sailor suits, acted out a skit which showed them traveling from shore to shore. "Boys will be boys," so goes the saying, and with unbridled mischief, they romped onstage, did cartwheels, mimicked or impersonated an assortment of characters but always interrupted the antics with impeccable singing.

It was the last part of the concert which gave the most eloquent demonstration of the ensemble’s centuries-old choral training and discipline: the closest blending of voices, firm tonal projection and intonation for the rendition of "European Romanticism" as exemplified by Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms and Gustav Hoist (1847-1934). Inevitably, it was this particular portion which gave credence to the original roles of the singers’ predecessors who sang at Sunday mass in the chapel of Hapsburg Emperor Maximilian, His Majesty’s decree going back to 1498.

Of course, the evening would not have been complete without the polkas and waltzes of Strauss, including — The Beautiful Blue Danube as one of the encores.

* * *

Austrian Ambassador Christian Krepela thanked the Phil-Austrian Cultural Society and Philamlife for their sponsorship and charmed his listeners by confessing that had not fate intervened, he would have been an ex-singer of the Vienna Boys’ Choir.

* * *

In contrast to the young singers, the BdB piano duo artists of Maria Jose de Bustos and Maria Jose Barangiarian – highly attractive women who have been playing together for ten years in European music festivals and concerts.

As part of the ongoing, month-long "Fiesta!" under the auspices of the Spanish Embassy and the Instituto Cervantes, BdB enchanted listeners who, at the RCBC auditorium were taken "on a tour of different moments and styles of Spanish music of the 20th century." The audience was informed further that the term "Spanish music" refers not only to the work written by Spanish composers but also to those which are born of an inspiration and a profound knowledge of the popular tradition regardless of the nationality of the authors.’

The "tour" afforded a fascinating discovery of modern Spanish music which was not as avant-garde as one might have expected: while being infused with compelling rhythms and whimsical phrasing, melodies were sustained, and recognizably so: e.g., J. Rodrigo’s Cinco Piezas Infantiles .

The winsome duo — incidentally, they complement each other even in looks, Bustos being blonde; Barandiaran, brunette – established seamless rapport throughout in a most refined manner. What’s more, they played the entire program without scores, the first B providing the melodic part; the second B, the accompaniment.

Further, the duo conveyed a thorough familiarity with the idiom and style of each work, this fact contributing immeasurably to audience gratification. What seemed lacking was a degree of power. This was particularly noticeable in De Falla’s "Fire Dance." Summing up, BdB offered a unique illuminating program of sheer delight, leaving the audience clamoring for encores. The duo obliged with two, one of these being a tango by E. Lecuona.