Folksongs • Tour du Monde
La Maîtrise de Toulouse/Mark Opstad
rec. 2024
Anima Nostra 0008 [62]

We hear no fewer than seventeen languages on this enterprising disc of folksongs from around the world. The performeres are a large group of fresh-sounding, mixed male and female choirs. That includes at least twenty sopranos and altos (boys and girls) from the Maîtrisienes and the Lycéenes, plus three countertenors, nine tenors and ten baritones/basses. One track also requires two percussionists, and four soloists are listed. One would be excused to say that surely this is not the expected choir size for folksong arrangements, but I can report that there are few troubles, and the balance is almost always very fine.

British conductor Mark Opstad has made four arrangements especially for his choirs and for this recording.

The programme begins and ends, unsurprisingly, in France. It starts in the choir’s own region, with Se Canta sung in Occitan, a simple melody said to have been composed by no less than Gaston Febus in the fourteenth century. There follows a rare opportunity to hear Canteloube’s choral arrangement of his famous Bailèro, originally for soprano and orchestra. This is a gorgeous and memorable moment on the entire disc. A pure boy soprano and a light tenor are both highly suited to this wondrous arrangement.

A few pieces, I felt, stood out. Divi sirmi kumelini, a Latvian song about horses arranged by composer Ethan Sperry, is arresting and dramatic, mostly in 7/8 time. Percussion gives it a strong rhythmic impetus, especially at the start. Also horse-related, with the fun of the voices which imitate clip-clopping, is Tykus Tykus by the Lithuanian Vaclovas Augustinas.

You will recognise the Ukrainian song Shedryk as Carol of the Bells. To show how brilliantly virtuosic and how warmly lyrical the choir can be, sample the Turkish song Entarisi Ala Benziyor with its rapidly repeated text in 9/8 (2+2+2+3) – very dance-like. Equally rhythmically exciting is Hora (a traditional dance) by the Israeli composer Marc Lavry. The next track, also lively and memorable, is the Zulu song Sivela KwaZulu set for male voices, sounding as warriors, one might say. The arranger Bernard Kruger is the artistic director of the KwaZulu-Natal Youth Choir.

A rather romanticised arrangement of Waltzing Matilda allows Mark Opstad to demonstrate another aspect of the art of the arranger. Especially enjoyable is Stephen Hatfield’s complex arrangement of the Mexican song Las Amarillas. The choir have to clap and coordinate the huapango rhythm and the Mexican/Spanish language. Quite a feat.

The mostly young choir had to get their heads round an extraordinary number of languages. If their English is anything to go on, then I would give at least eight out of ten for idiomatic pronunciation. Even so, all texts are provided in the original language, in French and in English. Mark Opstad’s essay is detailed and interesting, although in describing the songs he tends to repeat the storyline of the text. The final track, coming home as it were, is suitably a lovely version of Ma Normandie, almost the national anthem of that region.

The disc comes in a firm cardboard casing with photographs of the sessions. The recording is spacious and immediate.

Gary Higginson

Contents
Mark Opstad (b.1978) (arranger
Se Canta (France)
Joseph Canteloube (1879-1957)
Bailèro (France)
Javier Busto (b.1949)
Agur Jaunak (Spain)
Mark Opstad (arranger)
The Water is Wide (Scotland)
John Cameron (b.1944)
Blow the Wind Southerly (England)
Ethan Sperry (arranger)
Divi sirmi kumelini (Latvia)
Vaclovas Augustinas (b.1959)
Tykus Tykus (Lithuania)
Knut Nystedt (1915-2014)
Pål sine hønur (Norway)
Stephen Hatfield (b.1956) (arranger)
Dwa serduszka (Poland)
Katie Melua and Bob Chilcott (b.1955)
Scedryk (Ukraine)
Muammer Sun (1932-2021)
Entarisi Al Benziyor (Turkey)
Marc Lavry (1903-1967)
Hora (Israel)
Bernard Kruger (arranger)
Suvela KwaZulu (South Africa)
Ken Steven (b.1993)
Hela Rotan (Indonesia)
Mark Opstad (arranger)
Mò li hua (China)
Chen Yi (b.1953)
Sakura, Sakura (Japan)
Mark Opstad (arranger)
Waltzing Matilda (Australia)
Stephen Hatfield (arranger)
Las Amarillas (Mexico)
Stephen Paulus (1949-2014)
The Road Home (America)
Mark Opstad (arranger)
Ma Normandie