| May 2003 |
"Lyra" Audra and I arrived at the show on May 30, 2003 somewhat later than I expected, so we didn't have a lot of time to set up the DAT machine. Although the small, modestly decorated church was sold out, some seating remained near the altar and we had an excellent viewpoint. The group was warming up in the back room when I arrived, and I met Sergei Tupitsin only briefly before the performance while I tried to locate a microphone stand. Sergei, the tenor in the group, was also the individual I had emailed in March regarding recording. I didn't find a mike stand, so I had to place the microphone on the floor near the railing of the first row of seats. The program was quickly underway. I was pleased to see that a detailed program was supplied, although the group deviated liberally from the printed program. Sergei, who seemed to know the most English, was the spokesperson for the group, and gave informative introductions and commentary about most of the songs. Sergei was quick to point out that the group is from St. Petersburg, Russia, and described how some people in the US had wondered which US state they were from since there are so many St. Peteresburgs and Petersburgs in the US. All of the members are professional musicians, mostly trained in St. Petersburg where they worked toward university degrees - the highest stage of musical education in Russia.   Lyra actually consists of 25 people including choir conductors, instrumentalists and singers. However, the realities of travel require the group to split off into smaller ensembles of 4-6 singers for touring purposes. The singers for this performance were: Ekaterina Isachenko - first soprano Liudmila Shkirtil - mezzo soprano Alexey Korvin - tenor Sergei Tupitsin - baritone Vladimir Felauer - bass  According to Sergei, the group's name, Lyra, "has nothing to do with the name of the former Italian national currency." Rather, it derives from the ancient Greek musical instrument we commonly call the "lyre" in the US. In Russian, the lyre is a symbol of music, and it has a secondary meaning of inspiration. The 70-minute a cappella performance and musical inspiration was presented in two sets. The first was titled "Sacred Chants of the Russian Orthodox Church" for which the group used sheet music and wore formal attire. The second set was "Traditional Russian Folk Songs" for which the group was dressed in traditional folk dress and did not use sheet music. During the first half, pieces by a variety of Russian composers - known and unknown - were performed. Some of these were similar to Gregorian chants. Sergei explained that the Russian Orthodox Church doesn't use instruments. Spiritual highlights included "The Prayer to the Virgin Mary" by Thesnokov and "Our Father (The Lord's Prayer)" by Dubensky. Other composers included Rachmaninov, Bortniansky, Vladimir Ippolitov-Ivanov, Musychesku, Khristov, and Kosolapov. The second half of the program was a bit lighter, and featured folk melodies from many regions of Russia and elsewhere. The women wore dresses and multi-colored shawls while the men wore red tunics and black trousers. Sergei commented on how the group wanted to learn some American songs, but instead they presented the well-known "Carol of the Bells", a Ukrainian Song. The performance ended with a blessing song "Mnogaia Leta" and there was one encore. The audience (approx 250) was very appreciative. So much so that in some cases the audience began to applaud before the song was even over. I was among the many that applauded the first time during a quiet space, but for the remainder of the evening I waited until I was sure the singers were finished. Some of the songs were very short, so it wasn't unusual to assume that the end of a song was about to arrive, only to see it soar into another direction. Each of the singers showed their ability to both support and solo within the format of a six-person ensemble. As supporting singers, each part played an important role in the overall sound. As soloists, the singers were powerful and demanded your attention, so much so that the language barrier was of little consequence. While all of the songs were interesting and moving, my favorite pieces included some of the pieces that had significant solo sections. Ekaterina Isachenko's solo in "Ah, you are my green grass" a song popular in Russia in the beginning of the 20th Century; Alexey Korvin's tenor solo in "The Snow Blast" which also had a fun, barbershop-like bouncy "voom-voom" undercurrent supplied by the other singers. Vladimir Felauer's bass solo on the encore "12 Robbers". Vladimir was arguably the most powerful singer in sheer volume. He was almost scary to watch as he belted out his parts during the solos. There was a reception afterwards during which the group interacted with the audience and sold CDs.  The voice of thunder - Vladimir Felauer |
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To contact Lyra: Russia Web address: www.lyra-online.org |
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