CONCERT REVIEW: Of Yankees, the Met, and bandura (06/06/04)

CONCERT REVIEW: Of Yankees, the Met, and bandura

by Bohdanna Wolanska

It is April 5, New York City. We are at The Cooper Union, in a hall that seats 900 people, I am told. Venerable white-haired elders file past small children in embroidered shirts who are scurrying about, laughing and chattering, competing for patrons to whom to hand concert programs, greeting them in fluent Ukrainian.

There is more than the typical pre-concert hubbub - members of a scattered community that unite over major events like today's seem largely to know one another, and are excited by the prospect of seeing a musical entity that has been absent from New York for six long years. The "Capella" has arrived - the famous Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus from Detroit.

The 13 empty chairs and the choral risers on the stage slowly fill with bandurysts and singers in their stunning, colorful Kozak robes, and our hearts fill with national pride at the very sight. Even in this age of a jaded spectator society, where electronic entertainment requires little or no participation, this audience applauds unabated until every last chorister is onstage. The people are reacting to the live human treasure before them, as they will again, when the performers take their leave.

The first strains of music, "Play, Oh Kobzar!," honor both the bandura-kobzar tradition and the unforgettable former long-time conductor, mentor, teacher, composer and bandura virtuoso Hryhory Kytasty. There follows a rich and varied program. There are venerable classics from Ukrainian choral literature like "Praise the Lord" by Verbytsky. There are famous capella warhorses like "The Piper" (Dudaryk) and especially "Bayda," without which any Capella concert would be incomplete - and which reminds us why composer Hnat Khotkevych is a genius, making us want to jump up, grab a spear and head for the steppes to become a kozak. There are traditional folk songs, forming the backbone of any capella concert.

There is just enough non-traditional programming to add spice: a smattering of new arrangements, classics of world literature (opera-going New Yorkers appreciated hearing a "Soldiers Chorus" from Gounod's "Faust" that gives the Metropolitan Opera Chorus a run for its money), a pop song (a smooth, elegantly rendered "Ash Trees/Yaseny"), and an English spiritual ("Amazing Grace"). All are presented with conviction and class, and received enthusiastically by the audience.

Even the mini-ushers (ranging in age from about five to nine) and a few other children brought by brave, selfless and foresighted parents feel the festiveness and majesty of this music, reacting with toe-tapping, hand-clapping enthusiasm and energetic renditions of air-bandura.

The old meets the new on stage, as well as in the audience.

There are new young players on bandura, watching and learning from the sparkling, deft, seemingly effortless execution of several seasoned virtuosos. There are new young voices, and some very fine soloists, notably John Zinchuk, whose sweet tenor lends an air of graciousness and elegance, Taras Zakordonski, who renders "Moonlit and Starry Night" (Nich Yaka, Hospody) in the rhythm of a lullaby, and Andriy Shrubowich (countertenor), Teodor Bodnar and others who alternately solo or just soar to keep the ensemble in tune, especially in the a capella numbers, which tend to end in the same key as they started - no mean feat. An aside for music "techies": it is a delight to hear the second tenors resolve a tonic-to-leading-tone suspension in Nishchynsky's haunting and majestic "Song of the Grey Cuckoo" without flatting the leading tone according to instrumental tempered tuning! Veteran tenor Teodozij Pryshlak, soloing, has lost virtually nothing since his glory days decades ago.

Hardly old, but a capella veteran since he was barely out of school, basso Mychail Newmerzyckyj continues to thrill with the luxurious beauty of his black velvet voice and unerring technique. His "Yatran River" solo eloquently withstands the tide of rushing sound in conductor Oleh Mahlay's intricate new arrangement, which picturesquely evokes the early spring thaw when the river is coursing full of melted snow. Some in the audience themselves get a little damp around the eyes at the end of the song, as Stefania Chorny presents the young conductor-composer with a bouquet of flowers, fondly remembering her late husband, bandura philanthropist and No. 1 enthusiast Mykola Chorny. Other soloists contribute fine singing, but this reviewer cannot always make out who they are.

So, what else is new? Conductor Mahlay is imparting a new vocal technique to his singers, rendering a noticeable improvement in blend, balance, pitch, accuracy, nuance and line. This training process is more necessary than commonly supposed, because singing technique varies based on the primary language spoken. We can no longer count on the natural vocal placement of the Ukrainian immigrants that filled the Capella's ranks in the past, with their "nightingale's language," their massive breath support and pinpoint focus.

Most of the current singers are born in North America and speak American English as a primary language, which gets in the way of a robust, supported, focused, versatile sound. Since it takes this vocal training process several years to achieve full freedom of expression and dynamics, Dr. Mahlay wisely keeps a tight rein on his singers, giving rise to some lyrical but occasionally guarded, cautious singing. This will improve in time as the technique takes hold, and so will the flexibility of phrasing idiomatically with the text, rather than just with the music.

Dr. Mahlay does finally let his choristers loose toward the end of the program, when the prospect of blowing out one's voice is less threatening. What a wonderful, multi-faceted, civilized culture we have, that allows men to express their masculinity not only through beer swilling and fisticuffs, but also through athletic folk dance and highly competitive singing! This results in some good old-fashioned gale-force vocalism in the folk song medley and "The Mighty Dnipro River," which pins us to our seats with hair streaming back like a Maxell commercial, and provokes a roar of approval as the audience leaps to its feet for a heartfelt with a much-deserved standing ovation.

Postlude

You may be wondering, dear Reader, when I'm going to get to the Yankees. Well, I offer you some post-concert musings:

One of the delights of being a fan of baseball and opera in almost equal measure - my favorite is whichever one I am indulging at the moment - is spotting a fresh young talent, someone who exhibits the optimism of youth, the drive, the style, the innate ability, the promise of greatness and, yes, even the sometimes disconcerting but still refreshing innocence of inexperience. The excitement of encountering a young Mariano Rivera or a young Luciano Pavarotti, then predicting and following his maturation into a superstar, more than makes up for any minor shortcomings on the learning end of his career trajectory. Well, the evidence is unmistakable: there are major young talents in the Bandurist Chorus, who are rebuilding this work-in-progress organization on all fronts at once.

There are eager new bandurysty (do they even shave yet?) with their eyes glued to the conductor, hanging on his every move. There are fresh voices from all over the U.S. and Canada, learning to blend, at once developing both nuance and volume.

There are new arrivals from Ukraine, eager to prove to their compatriots that this national treasure belongs to the Fourth Wave, too (the latter turned out in force for the Syracuse concert, but apparently hasn't caught on yet in the Greater New York area).

There are young administrators, picking up the business end of affairs from the faltering hands of the loyal old guard, like charging soldiers snatching the flag from a wounded standard bearer before it touches the ground.

There is the conductor, who was a baby-faced youngster himself not so long ago when he inherited the baton, with a wealth of knowledge that belies his years - boldly creating, demanding, molding, rethinking, organizing, leading - yet with a refreshing humility that allows him to seek out and benefit from the knowledgeable advice of others.

Providing a sturdy foundation are the experienced long-term members, who accept the energetic new leadership and contribute their best as they always did, without the suspicion, resentment or divisiveness in which many a Ukrainian organization specializes. And assisting the entire enterprise are the unsung heroes we never see onstage - wives, mothers, fathers, friends, children - who work behind the scenes, facilitating, organizing, advertising, fund-raising, donating, feeding, and the like.

Yes, we miss the old stars, the mega-voices, the larger than life personalities, the lusty and hair-raising renditions of great classic tunes - after all, Rivera and Pavarotti cannot erase the memory of a Whitey Ford or Enrico Caruso. But as the old post-war era passes and Ukrainian institutions crumble one after another throughout our diaspora, it is heartening to see that one venerable institution is ushering in the new era by vitally renewing itself with fresh and vigorous talent.

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