Danish Radio Vocal Ensemble

[ardcarp]

If anyone wants to listen to a fantastic choir whose sound is quite different from anything we do in the UK, do try listening to Sunday night's In Concert. Second up (about 37 mins from the start) was this by Estonian composer Veljo Tormis :

St John's Day Songs 'Jaanilaulud' For 2 Choruses
Ensemble: Danish Radio Vocal Ensemble. Director: Olof Boman.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08vy9by

It's a celebration of midsummer.

[DracoM]

Totally agree - outstanding!

[Vox Humana]

Super singing. Super music too. I wonder how much rehearsal time it took to get such carefully polished performances.

[ardcarp]

All the singing I do nowadays is to turn up, get a black folder chucked at me, rehearse (supposedly) for an hour and then:

(a) fly by the seat of the pants ...if new repertoire

or

(b) yawn...if old repertoire

I guess the Danish ensemble must be paid to do some serious rehearsals. All to do with sensible arts funding, I suspect.

[Vox Humana]

All the singing I do nowadays is to turn up, get a black folder chucked at me, rehearse (supposedly) for an hour and then:...

I've encountered a disheartening number of singers who dislike operating in any other way. I can understand it to some extent - except for their implied unwillingness to knuckle down to produce top-notch performances. I'm sure there are people at the very top of the tree who can remember all the fine detail required for an interpretation on one hearing, but I don't operate at that level and so I've never encountered them.