Les petits chanteurs de St Urs

While Germany and England have many boys' choirs, the same cannot be said of our own country. Indeed, there are some excellent children's and youth choirs in which the boys can be counted on the finger of one hand. So why continue this tradition today? Simply because it sounds very different from a mixed children's choir. And it's precisely the sound that titillates our ears in this recording by the little singers from Solothurn. With an eclectic and very demanding program, Andreas Reize knows how to lead the voices to produce a rich, round sound.

From Croce's Renaissance to Mendelssohn's sublime Richte mich Gott via the Magnificat of Purcell's choral music. But the main interest lies in the discoveries on this recording. If the choir is a little less at ease in the early repertoire (the difficult Magnificat by Henry Purcell) he is outstanding in contemporary pieces. By Paul Mealor (*1975), the St Urs singers perform Peace then Ubi Caritas. We are surprised by the maturity of the sound of the tenors and basses, given that some of them have only just moulted. Some of the pieces are very challenging, both harmonically and rhythmically (Alleluja of Runestad or its famous Nyon Nyon, Jubiliate Deo, by Ticino composer Ivo Antonini (*1963), Ronda Catongaarranged by Pablo Roballo, or Gaur Akelarre by Josu Elberdin (*1976), are sung with astonishing aplomb and maturity. In addition to the redoubtable precision of the setting, the voices sound with a beautiful freedom, defying difficulties with happiness. Alongside this rather serious choral journey, there's the pleasure of sweet desserts with Sing A Cappella by Ben Parry (*1965) or Skyfall arranged for choir by Alex Turley (*1995), and the Solothurn "standard" (S'Solothurnerliedarrangement by Mario Ursprung (*1944)). If, all too often, we like children's and youth choirs because they're "pretty", we're very appreciative of the fact that this recording offers something "beautiful". The Singknaben from the Cathedral of Solothurn are playing in the big league!

Sing a cappella! Singknaben der St. Ursenkathedrale Solothurn, conducted by Andreas Reize. Rondeau Productions ROP6171