What a disparity between the music of this 40-man chorus and its Sha Tin venue. The men in severe monastic black, the boys in angelic white, performed the basically medieval music of the Russian Orthodox Church for the first half of this programme, and I never quite accustomed myself to the setting. I longed for the towering pillars and candle-lit corridors of the church, and wanted overpowering incense and ragged parishioners on their knees, with tall, bearded clerics towering over them. Instead, we had bright Sha Tin, a full house of children and parents out for a nice Saturday concert. The 52-year-old Moscow Boys' and Men's Chorus gave a pretty perfect performance of its music. Yes, the atmosphere was all wrong. But listening to 45 minutes of church music was inspiring enough. Whether written by Mussorgsky, Balakirev or Tchaikovsky (none of their best music), or traditional liturgical stuff, this was a deep contrast to the other religious music heard over Christmas. Where Bach and Handel combined the sacred and secular, the most fervently religious with the cheeriest choruses, Russian music seems to have come out of a medieval catacomb. True enough, virtually all the music heard on Saturday was composed in the 19th century. But such was the power of the Church - which decreed that any music outside of Orthodox chant was sinful - that Russia never was able to evolve, as Europe did, during the Renaissance. The voices which produced this 'ancient' music were happily attuned to this kind of music. Most audiences prepare themselves for Russian military choirs, which Stalin allowed to perform outside Russia. But the Moscow Boys' and Men's Chorus offered the solid treble of the youngsters with the thrilling unforced low Cs of the men. In one way, it was great, unique and thrilling. In another, one still longed for a real church ceremony, satisfying not merely the ears, but all our senses. Moscow Boys' and Men's Chorus, Sha Tin Town Hall, December 28
