MUSIC REVIEW : Swedish Chorus in Monrovia

For enthusiasts of Swedish music, this summer has gotten off to a grand start. On Sunday evening, Lihkoren, the second Swedish chorus to visit the Southland in less than a week, presented a program at First Presbyterian Church of Monrovia, the first stop in the group’s two-week American tour.

Male choruses represent a strong tradition in Scandinavia, and Lihkoren, the ensemble of Linkoping University, is the youngest such choir in Sweden. As one would expect, a large portion of Sunday’s program celebrated music of that country’s composers. (Not coincidentally, several of the works that the ensemble Orphei Drangar had sung last Tuesday also appeared on Lihkoren’s program.)

David Wikander’s “King Lily of the Valley” and Hugo Alfven’s “Dawn by the Sea” may not be particularly distinctive works, but they did afford the 60-voice ensemble an opportunity to demonstrate its fine, homogenous blend and superb enunciation. Even to a listener who knows virtually no Swedish, the words projected with striking clarity. (It was, of course, helpful to have the original texts and translations in the program.)

And it wasn’t just in their native tongue that the young singers proved such effective communicators. Benjamin Britten’s “Ballad of Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard” had a fine sense of drama and motion. And a great deal of vigor surfaced in Saint-Saens’ “Saltarelle,” sung in French. Here, as elsewhere, the ensemble conducted by Hans Lundgren made effective contrasts, exhibited fine control and maintained excellent balance.

The choral selections--”The Ballad” excepted--were performed a cappella. The choir’s accompanist, Anders Peterson, did have a chance to exhibit his sensitivity, however, as a piano soloist in Emil Sjogren’s brief “Morning Wandering.” He also served as accompanist for mezzo Ingrid Haaking Raaby, who delivered songs by two Swedish composers and three songs by Ives. But for some slight breathiness, she demonstrated sensitive, sure vocalism.

Folke Rabe’s “Rondes,” a work using a variety of nontraditional sounds, allowed Lihkoren to display both its virtuosity and sense of humor, though the latter was underplayed and thus not fully appreciated. More effective was “Marry a Woman Uglier Than You,” amusingly sung in (Swedish-accented) calypso style, in which tenor Lars I Eriksson handsomely contributed the solos.