Vienna Boys' Choir (9/16/1983)

Friday, September 16, 1983

Marsha C and I left work at 17:00 today and went to the Personalhaus/staff residence to change into dressy clothes. We hurried to Jan & Kirby’s by 17:30, but Kirby was busy on the phone. The three of us left at 17:50 as Marsha drove us to Bern. It was clearing up after a rainy day and we could see the mountains. We found a parking spot in front of Mövenpick and walked over to Wendy’s for dinner. I haven’t had any appetite lately. The digestive system is at one extreme or the other with lots of cramping since the trip to Italy.

We walked over near the Kornhaus/granary to the oldest church in Bern, the Französiche Kirche/French Church (1269), a reformed church that was the center for Huguenot exiles. We arrived at 19:30 and a few minutes later Jan arrived with their landlady, Madame Villoz. We purchased tickets for 24 CHF/$12 each and I got a program for 2 CHF/$1.

Vienna Boys' Choir ticket

Program cover pages 4 & 1

Program cover pages 2 & 3

We were in the third row on the left and right in the center was a grand piano with two narrow platforms on either side. The program began a little after 20:15; the Wiener Sängerknaben/Vienna Boys’ Choir! The dozen boys in white sailor shirts, navy pants, and shiny patent leather shoes came clumping out to stand on both sides of the piano. They looked like brats but sang like angels! A tie-ed and tailed director came out. He played the piano and conducted, and at times stood to direct, giving very specific directions with hand and body movements including pulling on his jaw and tapping his stomach. He even motioned when they should bow so that everything was in unison. When they sang, they turned slightly toward the center, then they would turn forward to accept the applause and bow. Of the program, they sang the Heinrich Schütz piece, O der Grossen Wundertaten/Oh, the Great Miracle, and then half of the Sanctus-Benedictus/Holy Blessing by Jacobus Kerle. One boy did a solo by Felix Mendelssohn. The choir sang Um Mitternacht/At Midnight by Anton Bruckner and three pieces by Petr Eben, all in Czech.

The choir left for a break and Jan & Kirby insisted we all switch seats, as if any one was better than the other! Soon the boys clumped back out and sang one right after the other, a series of carols by Benjamin Britten. It was difficult to determine what language they were singing! Latin, Olde English?! A combination? They really showed the extent of their repertoire, with a couple very quick-paced songs. Partway through the final song, there was a pause and some of the audience began clapping, so that they couldn’t finish properly. They left for another break, and this one was longer. When they returned they sang Das Dörfchen/The Village by Franz Schubert, then a trio of boys did an operetta-like Die Advokaten/The Attorneys, also by Schubert, which included the kling, kling, kling of coins and a little dramatics. In quick succession, they sang three songs in English by Hanns Eisler, with four soloists. Next were German and Austrian folk songs, followed by a polka and the Kaiserwaltz by Johann Strauss. The choir departed, but returned for an encore of another Strauss polka. It was wonderful and the variety of their repertoire was amazing. Since I find it nerve-wracking to watch the facial mannerisms of the singers, I am looking forward to hearing (rather than seeing) them sing a Mass in Vienna. However, it was great watching the director, since you expect body language from him. Otherwise, my own face got tired from arching the eyebrows, darting eyes, cocking the head, and nodding, etc. The director, Michael Gormley, looked American to me somehow. (N.B. He was born in Canada.)

Afterwards we went to Mövenpick, where I had pistachio ice cream, Madam Villoz had tea, Jan had Kaffee HAG and chocolate and coffee ice cream, Marsha had a coffee, and Kirby had a coffee and a banana split. We went to leave in the same cars we arrived in, and Jan with Madame Villoz led Marsha out of Bern. While waiting for Jan to come around, we saw a man trying to crawl across a street and he was blocking a taxi. No one came to help, until finally a man came to stand the guy up and walk him across the street. (We were a block away.) Marsha got off at the Brugg exit, and Kirby and I changed to Jan’s car. Home by 23:30.