MUSIC REVIEWS : Siberian Children’s Chorus Performs at Ambassador

Cuteness and precocity were in ample supply Tuesday evening at Ambassador Auditorium. Happily, so were substantial musical virtues in a compact program, both serious and entertaining, from Orljonok, a.k.a. the Little Eagles of Siberia.

A company of 23 choristers and five dancers, ages 9 to 17, the Little Eagles made a big impression.

The choir had the first half to itself. Singing from risers, it produced remarkably full, balanced and accurate sounds, with no disagreement in phrasing or articulation. Some fuzziness crept in at softer dynamic levels, but here was choral work of cherishable warmth and directness.

Choral director Ludmila Stebenkova proved more than just an effective technical tutor. She began with a rich Russian group, including a fluid and focused account of the chorus of the Polovtsian maidens from Borodin’s “Prince Igor,” with particularly lush singing from the altos.

Not surprisingly, her young musicians sang German and Latin with a distinctive accent, in her closing Telemann and Mozart. But she did get them to define the contrasting elements in an arrangement of Mozart’s “Exsultate, jubilate” with alert eloquence. Pianist Yuri Krushinsky accompanied with nimble, occasionally imprecise, flair.

For the second half, the risers were banished, and the choir came out in someone’s idea of California kid’s mufti for some bilingual Gershwin and “Jingle Bells.” Costume changes, for both singers and dancers, stressed stylized ethnic elements as the ensemble turned to engaging, nuanced folk music, ranging from their native Krasnayarsk region to Estonia.

Dance director Olga Portnoya often challenged her troupe with technical demands met more in spirit than the flesh, but the dancers, in four numbers accompanied by loud taped music from the National Dance Ensemble of Siberia, revealed much promise.