Godunovs, Simpletons, Pimens, Shchekalinskys Galore, Not a Marina in
Sight

Pity the music director who'd be forced to cast "Boris Godunov" from
members of the Moscow Sretensky Monastery Choir. An embarrassment of
riches, although for my money, no one can touch Dmitry Beloselsky for
the title role - a bass baritone with power he is not showing off (but
you *know *it's there), a gorgeous, majestic sound, so natural,
effortless, musical that I cannot think of his match.

The appearance of the Stretensky in Davies Hall tonight - a single San
Francisco stop on the first U.S. tour - was full of surprises and
musical delights. The scene switched abruptly from the pre-concert
impromptu reception in front of the stage by some elderly, long-bearded
Russian Orthodox priests in full regalia, marking the sign of the cross
on the many audience members who approached them, bowing and kissing
their hands.

Next, the 40-men  a capella chorus took the stage, the group bearing the
name of the 600-year-old monastery, and yet completely secular in
apparance and sharply contrasting with the priests in age: men mostly in
their 20s. The crackerjack artistic director and conductor Nikon Zhila
looks about 30, a super-intense, totally involved musician who seems to
pull the sound from the singers by sheer force, and yet it's all well
balanced, nothing overdone. (Zhila taking solo bows to most of the
applause seemed a bit strange, although the chorus didn't seem to mind.)

At the beginning of the concert, four sacred, ancient chants were
performed without applause during pauses, the chorus still warming up,
sounding great, but with some slightly ragged entrances. As soon as the
program switched to Russian, Ukrainian and Cossack folk songs, and the
basses made their magnificent (but unforced) presence known, everything
switched to a higher plateau.

"Ah, the Steppe So Wide," "Evening Bells" (with Andrey Bashkov as
soloist), "The Steppe Is All Around" (Beloselsky), "Shine On, My Star"
(with Evgeny Lieberman), "White Acacias" (with Alexander Korogod), a
dozen other songs, "The Enemy Burned My Family Home" and the concluding
"Brothers, It's Good to Live" (both featuring Beloselsky) marched by to
various intensities of ovation from the nearly full house, most of the
audience mouthing the words.

Among the many virtues of the Stretensky are crystalline diction
(allowing even those of us with high-school Russian to understand most
of the text), a consistently understated approach to the music, tasteful
and elegant, complete ensemble work, and dedication, but no signs of
self-importance.

After New York, Boston, Toronto, Chicago, and Washington D.C., San
Francisco was the last North American stop. Upcoming: Melbourne
(Sept.21), Sydney (Sept. 23), Geneva (Sept. 27), Berlin (Sept. 28),
London (Sept. 30), and Paris (Oct. 4, in the Notre Dame Cathedral).

Janos Gereben
www.sfcv.org
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