|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Don Cossacks Choir Serge Jaroff Credo ~ Erster Psalm Davids ~ Tedeum Laudamus A concert at the papal basilika minor Waldsassen, Audio CD, DDD, Duration: c. 55 minutes |
|
The Christmas concert, with Russian and German Christmas carols, was recorded in one of Germany's most beautiful Baroque churches. In addition to the well known sacred songs such as "In dulci jubilo" and Russian pieces like "Gospodie Pomuli", Wanja Hlibka delved deeply into the ways of both cultures. The a cappella version of "Es ist ein Ros entspungen", for example, enchanted the 1700 concert goers with the Kosaken's Russian melancholy..... a moving and grandiose experience. The church's interior, when one considers the basilica's dimensions, presents a challenge to a vocal ensemble. With a depth of over eighty meters, it requires the vocal power of the Russian operatic soloists comprising Wanja Hlibka's choir to elicit the necessary charisma from the vocally sophisticated arrangements and to captivate the audience in the way that they did. The atmosphere of the concert, dependent on the desired expression and dynamic, ranges from a peaceful, quiet, almost gentle honoring of the child in the manger to an enormous room-filling song of praise proclaiming the joy at the birth of the Redeemer. |
|
The choir was founded in 1991 by Wanja Hlibka and George Tymczenko. Both were soloists in the world famous Don Cossacks Choir until its disbandment in 1979 and are thus well qualified to continue the tradition. Wanja Hlibka was their youngest soloist, from 1967 to 1979 and feels particularly obligated to the ensembles memory. He gathered together first class soloists from the Bolschoi Theatre in Moscow and the Kiev and Odessa Operas to form the successor choir, whose unique dynamic spectrum, from the transparency of a Gregorian chant to the vocal authority of an operatic chorus, is probably unmatched. The choir performs live and without the aid of amplification, even in such large venues as the Musikhalle in Hamburg, the Messehalle in Frankfurt or the Gewandhaus in Leipzig. The repertoire is the same as the former original choir‘s, with all scores being transcripts from Serge Jaroff‘s private music library, presently in the care of his son, Alexeij, in America. Wanja Hlibka was born into a Russian-German family in 1948 in Petershausen, near Munich. He had his first private singing lesson at the age of 17 and was engaged only two years later by Serge Jaroff. During breaks from touring, he studied music at the Hamburg Conservatory and later singing with Professor Josef Metternich in Faldafing near Munich. Despite repeated offers from opera houses, he remained loyal to Serge Jaroff until the disbandment of the choir. He still exclusively dedicates his voice to Russian music. Wanja Hlibka sees, now as then, his most important task to be the furtherance of Serge Jaroff's art. |
|
The minster of Waldsassen, which you will encounter in this production, was established in 1133, with its present structures being built between 1685 and 1704. Prominent builders such as Georg Dientzenhofer and Abraham Leuthner created one of Bavaria's most remarkable Baroque churches. In 1803 the minster was given to the catholic community as a parish church. In 1969, the collegiate church was sanctified as a papal basilika minor. The church interior has a total length of 82 meters and the nave with basilican profile is attended with chapels and galleries. The organ has 7720 pipes and is the second largest in Germany. Prominent international conductors, such as Leonard Bernstein, Sir Colin Davies, Lorin Maazel, Yehudi Menuhin as well as many famous choirs, orchestras, soloists and organists made the Basilica Concerts an insider tip throughout Germany. Andreas Sagstetter has been the artistic director of the concert series since the year 2000. |
|
Creations & Tracklist 1. Credo 2. Erster Psalm Davids 3. Tedeum Laudamus 4. Neue Freude ist über uns gekommen 5. Es ist ein Ros entsprungen 6. Christus ist geboren 7. Herr erbarme Dich unser 8. Süßer die Glocken nie klingen 9. Gott sei mit uns 10. Russischer Weihnachtsgesang 11. Die Glocken von Jerusalem 12. In dulci jubilo 13. In der Kirche 14. Leise rieselt der Schnee 15. Adeste fideles 16. Ich bete an die Macht der Liebe |
|
The Series Publishing culture in its authentic form entails for us capturing and recording for posterity outstanding performances and concerts. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. In our Edition Authentic Classical Concerts we go in search of this dialogue - to the large constructions and rare pearls of human architecture. For every building has its peculiarities, formed by its historical, acoustic and atmospheric circumstances. But the critical element remains the person, the artist with his intellectual sensibilities. The genesis, the origin, the environment, the musical evolution and education are all factors that develop our tastes and preferences: for example, for a love of large spaces, of classical or modern architecture. It is not without reason that the peoples of other continents and cultures enthuse over the fascination of the European experience.... is not the land of endless possibilities or the magic of the orient equally worthy of a visit? Is not the sensitivity of an Italian opera singer or a Bulgarian violinist crucial to the interpretation, the handling of the composition, the work? And finally, the circle is closed with the emotions of the audience and the atmosphere of the performance site. These subjectivities are mirrored in the perception of an atmosphere, a space - creating an individual, personal imagined space within a space - coloring the conception of a piece. Classical music lives! Lives through the interpretation, the tension built up during the performance, and through the combination of work, space, artist and audience. We accept the challenge and record the concert directly in digital stereo and thus become a part of the performance itself, capturing, in sound and pictures, the impressions, the suspense that we enjoy during a concert - so that we may impart to you as authentic an experience as possible. Flourishing culture in living monuments, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener are the values we endeavor to document in this series. Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler |
