THE HERMITAGE CHOIR

On 30th April we again welcomed the Hermitage Choir from St Petersburg for a wonderful concert. Accompanied by their efficient administrator, Natalia, the choir comprised Vladimir (conductor and counter-tenor), Vassili (tenor), Dimitry (baritone), Edouard (second bass) and Pavel (first bass). The first part of their programme was Russian religious music and commenced with 'We praise you O Lord', beautifully sung and ending with six 'Amens' or, as Russians pronounce it, 'Ameen'. 'My soul sends blessings to the Lord' by Ivanov was gentle and flowing, 'Heavenly Hosts' featuring Pavel was deep and reverent while Dimitry's leading of 'People raise the Mountain' was up-beat. Vladimir's counter-tenor voice in the rendering of 'Body Asleep' was lovely, and 'Hail Mary', music by Rachmaninov, was gentle and caressing. This song spoke of Mary's bearing of Jesus and one could almost feel her cradling the infant Lord. The final item of this section, 'Glory to our King' was rousing and stirring.

In the interval the usual array of picnic goodies emerged once again as food and wine were enjoyed by all. One or two of our Russian visitors sat with us but as they all seem to have already eaten rather well earlier in the day, most preferred to have a 'ciggy' outside! Vassili who sat at our table told us he had sung in a mixed choir in France, Spain, Italy, Greece and Malaysia. He said all our visitors were musicians in their own right as well as singers: he himself was a composer and had a wife and little boy at home. From Raymond Tipping, our intrepid organiser, we learned too, that we had some Russian visitors in the audience among whom were Galya from Kostroma and Tanya from Tver, both now living in the North East.

The second part of the concert focussed on Russian folk music commencing with a short but vigorous piece from the time of Tsar Peter the Great. This was followed by a melodious song popularised after the Russian Revolution, while a song based on a poem by Alexander Pushkin left people smiling, particularly at the various 'Hoorahs'. 'The Nightingale is a little bird' was jolly and clearly enjoyed by the choir themselves, and there was a fabulous rendering of 'Moscow Nights' again led by Vladimir. Finally 'A famous brigand in old Russia' was sung stirringly to the tune of 'The Carnival is over'.

After this Vladimir thanked us for inviting them wishing us all a 'Long, long, long, long Life!' before the choir sang a super encore in English of 'Will you still need me when I'm sixty-four?' Ian Wagstaff thanked the choir for giving us a wonderful evening of elating and intoxicating music which transcended the boundaries of language. We wished them all a happy and safe journey home and we hope they may be able to return to Ponteland some time in the future.

Jessica Hannen