A Joyous Tradition Is Honored

Few musical ensembles come with a greater load of tradition than the Vienna Choir Boys, which traces its roots back nearly 500 years. The famed choir has visited North America almost annually since 1932, and the touring contingent heard Saturday at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center of Cal State Long Beach carried all that history honorably.

The utterly characteristic program began with choruses and part-songs by Mendelssohn, Brahms and the most famous of all the choir’s alums, Schubert. The fabled uniformity of diction and articulation was much apparent, as was a cherishable joy in the singing. Canadian Michael Gormley, a former conductor of the Choir Boys and guest conductor and accompanist for this tour, provided the customary self-effacing leadership and support.

The traditional potted operetta was a “Wiener Leben” arranged from Johann Strauss Jr. by Uwe Theimer. The dialogue was in English, the singing in German, and the costumed boys tore gamely into it and the calculated naivete of Titus Hollweg’s staging. The emphasis, of course, was on cuteness.

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Most of the carols in the Choir Boys’ Christmas set were sung in English, including that unlikely classic “Jingle Bell Rock.” Proving that even weighty tradition is not proof against contemporary trends, two of the expressively sung carols were by John Rutter, the prolific British composer now popular in choirs everywhere.

To close, there was a lilting “Tales From the Vienna Woods” and two encores, including an odd “Silent Night” that began in affectionate, sensitive German and ended in musically weirdly stressed English.