Russian Chorus Sings Rarely Heard Works

Music and the arts were always popular Russian exports during the Soviet years, but seldom did we hear more than hints of the long and rich tradition of Orthodox liturgical music. On Sunday afternoon, the male chamber choir Arte Corale made up for decades of neglect with a generous, seasonal survey at UCLA’s Schoenberg Hall.

Founded in 1978 as the choir of the Archangel Gabriel Church in Moscow, Arte Corale has played a key role in the recovery of what even in Russia had become virtually a lost art. After its first performance, Soviet authorities added the title “Soloists Choir,” and it is still easy to hear why.

Imagine the most profound of madrigals as sung by the Three Tenors--if only they had three baritones and three basses of equal power and conviction with them--and you have some idea of the vocal heroics and breadth of emotion displayed by the 10 singers of Arte Corale, sometimes to oppressively stentorian effect in the intimate confines of Schoenberg Hall.

But they are also capable of a self-effacing blend and wondrously supported pianissimos. Pitch could wander but it was always quickly corralled by the singers, who listen to one another with sympathy and clearly take joy in their music.

Conducted by music director Vladimir Krotov, the chorus sang traditional chants and modal hymns and motets by Russian Romantics, the best known in the West being Dmitri Bortnianski, Pavel Chesnokov and Tchaikovsky. They produced six soloists from their ranks, headed by the imposing and charismatic bass Yuri Breshnev, and worked to signal effect in both sustained chordal music and lively polyphony.

At the end came a brief group of folk and popular songs, capped by a swollen but sincerely affective arrangement of “God Bless America,” sung in English.