INTERVIEW: Vienna Boys Choir bring traditional holiday cheer on Christmas tour
A performance of the world-famous Vienna Boys Choir is typically highlighted by soaring, angelic voices giving life to a bonafide history lesson on choral music. When they tour around the Christmas season, audiences can expect some stellar renditions of carol music, both traditional and modern.
The history of the choir is unparalleled. They have been in existence since the 14th century and based in Vienna since 1498. They have sung for royalty and commoner alike. The number of composers who have worked with the choir is startling — a real who’s who of classical giants: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Antonio Salieri, Anton Bruckner and Heinrich Isaac, to name a few.
Their official name is Wiener Sängerknaben, and today they can be heard both in Vienna and throughout the world. They are split into four groups, and the group that is currently touring the United States is headed by conductor Manolo Cagnin.
The conductor, originally from Italy, said the Christmas concerts in the States are filled with many different selections.
“It’s a lot of contrast, and you [build] the concert with a lot of sunny songs, for example, ‘Feliz Navidad’ or ‘Jingle Bells,'” Chagnin said in a recent phone interview. “The Vienna Boys Choir is a world choir. We reach to every country of the world with Merry Christmas, and we’d like to try a different style of Christmas song. That’s my idea.”
A recent Vienna Boys Choir concert in Tarrytown, New York, showcased exactly what Cagnin promises. The first half of the evening featured traditional choral music that was not holiday-specific, and the second half highlighted carols, both commonly known and rare treats. In the course of two hours, and without leaving the Tarrytown Music Hall, the boys traveled to many cultures and countries.
To have such diversity and expertise on display, the choral members need to learn a lot of songs and stick to a regimented work schedule — of course, leaving some time for good old fashioned fun.
“Usually the kids have school in the morning,” Cagnin said of their studies. “Let’s start at 7 a.m. until 11 a.m., and then from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m., they have two hours with me. And after that lunch, then another hour with me, and then school until 6 p.m. … In the evening, they can play soccer, and then they have free time. But on the tour it’s easy because they have no school. They learn something on the bus, and we have long travel, for example.”
The kids in the choir usually stay for four years, and in that time span, they typically travel the world. One year will be completely on the road, while another year will be based solely in Vienna. The other years may take them to the United States or Asia.
“So, for example, next year we are only going to play in Vienna all the time,” the conductor said. “We have no tour. We have just concerts in Austria, and the kids can learn from the school. The school next year for my group is the most important thing.”
While on the road, Cagnin employs the help of two chaperones and a tour manager. This team of adults has been operating for nine years. Keeping the boys occupied and engaged is their task.
“Now this morning is free,” Cagnin said as an example. “We stay in the hotel because one kid is sick, and the other boys in the group go to laser tag and have fun. Tomorrow we have a little bit of sport, and we can play soccer. Every free minute we try to organize something good for the kids because it’s about a 11 weeks tour, 47 concerts. … We can’t forget that we’re with children.”
Cagnin said that when it’s time for the choral members to take the stage, they are not nervous. That’s because the Vienna Boys Choir recruits the best of the best, and they may be young, but they are still professionals.
For Cagnin himself, a life of choral and classical music began when he was a child. “I was 9-10 years old when I started with the violin,” he said. “It was because of my daddy. He was an opera fan, [Giacomo] Puccini, [Giuseppe] Verdi and all the day with Maria Callas in my house. … And it starts with violin and piano, and now I’m here. … They’re really proud to be with the Vienna Boys Choir, and I’m proud, too.”
He added: “We are like a family. It’s absolutely the same dynamic like a family, and when somebody moves or leaves, you have no idea if I can see him again or not. But, of course, at the same point, we are really happy because we are all together on the stage. … The music is like a language of communication, and we communicate.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Click here for more information on the Vienna Boys Choir.
