2009 11 06 - Business Times - Little men
Little men
By CLARISSA TAN
THERE they are, in their little sailor suits - fresh-faced, well-scrubbed, befreckled and button-nosed, the epitome of wholesome boyhood. It's hard to imagine, given their cherubic faces, that these lads have another, muddier life playing football or rollerblading. But boys will be boys, even if they are part of the world's most famous children's choir.
The members of the Wiener Sängerknaben, better known to us as the Vienna Boys' Choir, require tough love just like other kids, says artistic director Gerald Wirth. 'Our boys are the same as boys everywhere,' he says. 'They are interested in sports, football, that sort of thing. Actually, we encourage them to do lots of sport. And when they are in practice sessions for the choir, we get the same kinds of issues as everywhere else. They need discipline.'
But the Vienna Boys, who will be performing in Singapore tomorrow and Sunday, are set apart in many ways. After all, not every child can say they belong to a group that can trace its roots back to 13th century European court life.
For starters, the Vienna Boys have their own school, and it's not some rundown, functional three-storey block built in the 1970s.
It's at the Augartenpalais, a baroque palace and the former hunting lodge of Emperor Joseph II. Almost 250 children study and rehearse in the Augartenpalais, and at age 10 the most talented boys are selected to join the choir.
Wirth, who himself was a choir member, acknowledges that the Boys are more intense and intuitive than most.
'They tend to be more sensitive to the emotions,' he explains. 'They do a lot of reading, listening to music. I guess we can compare them to adult artists.'
It's an almost surreal life, with each choirboy required to spend about 11 weeks of the academic year on tour, and to sing around 80 performances annually. As they travel the world, meeting conductors, composers, musicians, film directors and audiences from all corners of the globe, the Boys get a kind of exposure hardly ever afforded to grown-ups, let alone children.
'From a young age, they have had to work with people from all kinds of fields,' says Wirth, who was choirmaster in the 1980s and made artistic director in 2001. 'They come to have a very open mind. At the same time, they have learned to focus on very specific things, and to work hard. What we try to convey the most is self-discipline, so they can establish within themselves a standard of excellence; they have to be happy with what they themselves are producing.
'Almost all the choirboys become very successful after they leave, whatever they decide to do with their lives.'
Wirth says about one in 10 of the Vienna Boys hail from outside of Austria. There are two Singaporeans now undergoing training at the Augartenpalais, he says, and they are 'very good singers', but unfortunately they will not be part of the group performing in Singapore this time. (Wirth's own son, incidentally, is also in the choir).
At the Esplanade this weekend, the Boys will be performing Haydn, Schubert, Orff, several Austrian folksongs, some world music, as well as numbers by ABBA and Queen: the repertoire has been widening as well. Wirth's own compositions are often inspired by myths and philosophical texts, and he likes to combine elements of Gregorian chant with those of ethnic music, making use of strong rhythms.
In their well-pressed uniforms, the Vienna Boys may all look alike but they come from all sections of society, reveals the artistic director.
'They come from low-income families, as well as from middle- and high-income backgrounds. You can say that for the children from lower-income families, the Choir makes a huge difference, probably the most difference. They come to be exposed to things they wouldn't have experienced otherwise. Many lives have been changed tremendously.
'The Choir is non-profit, it funds itself thought its concerts, the CDs, and so on. There's 70 euros (S$144.5) to pay in tuition fees, but a lot of families don't pay even that, so in a way it's a kind of scholarship.'
Are the Boys cognisant of the unique lifestyle they lead? 'I think they are aware of the special stature they have,' says Wirth. 'They love the audience, they love the applause.
'But many of them only realise how special it all was, after they have left the choir for five to 10 years. As children, you see, you live only in the present. But there comes a point when, after they leave the choir, they realise - 'Oh, people all over the world knew of us'.'
The Vienna Boys' Choir will be performing on Nov 7 and 8 at the Esplanade Concert Hall
By CLARISSA TAN
THERE they are, in their little sailor suits - fresh-faced, well-scrubbed, befreckled and button-nosed, the epitome of wholesome boyhood. It's hard to imagine, given their cherubic faces, that these lads have another, muddier life playing football or rollerblading. But boys will be boys, even if they are part of the world's most famous children's choir.
The members of the Wiener Sängerknaben, better known to us as the Vienna Boys' Choir, require tough love just like other kids, says artistic director Gerald Wirth. 'Our boys are the same as boys everywhere,' he says. 'They are interested in sports, football, that sort of thing. Actually, we encourage them to do lots of sport. And when they are in practice sessions for the choir, we get the same kinds of issues as everywhere else. They need discipline.'
But the Vienna Boys, who will be performing in Singapore tomorrow and Sunday, are set apart in many ways. After all, not every child can say they belong to a group that can trace its roots back to 13th century European court life.
For starters, the Vienna Boys have their own school, and it's not some rundown, functional three-storey block built in the 1970s.
It's at the Augartenpalais, a baroque palace and the former hunting lodge of Emperor Joseph II. Almost 250 children study and rehearse in the Augartenpalais, and at age 10 the most talented boys are selected to join the choir.
Wirth, who himself was a choir member, acknowledges that the Boys are more intense and intuitive than most.
'They tend to be more sensitive to the emotions,' he explains. 'They do a lot of reading, listening to music. I guess we can compare them to adult artists.'
It's an almost surreal life, with each choirboy required to spend about 11 weeks of the academic year on tour, and to sing around 80 performances annually. As they travel the world, meeting conductors, composers, musicians, film directors and audiences from all corners of the globe, the Boys get a kind of exposure hardly ever afforded to grown-ups, let alone children.
'From a young age, they have had to work with people from all kinds of fields,' says Wirth, who was choirmaster in the 1980s and made artistic director in 2001. 'They come to have a very open mind. At the same time, they have learned to focus on very specific things, and to work hard. What we try to convey the most is self-discipline, so they can establish within themselves a standard of excellence; they have to be happy with what they themselves are producing.
'Almost all the choirboys become very successful after they leave, whatever they decide to do with their lives.'
Wirth says about one in 10 of the Vienna Boys hail from outside of Austria. There are two Singaporeans now undergoing training at the Augartenpalais, he says, and they are 'very good singers', but unfortunately they will not be part of the group performing in Singapore this time. (Wirth's own son, incidentally, is also in the choir).
At the Esplanade this weekend, the Boys will be performing Haydn, Schubert, Orff, several Austrian folksongs, some world music, as well as numbers by ABBA and Queen: the repertoire has been widening as well. Wirth's own compositions are often inspired by myths and philosophical texts, and he likes to combine elements of Gregorian chant with those of ethnic music, making use of strong rhythms.
In their well-pressed uniforms, the Vienna Boys may all look alike but they come from all sections of society, reveals the artistic director.
'They come from low-income families, as well as from middle- and high-income backgrounds. You can say that for the children from lower-income families, the Choir makes a huge difference, probably the most difference. They come to be exposed to things they wouldn't have experienced otherwise. Many lives have been changed tremendously.
'The Choir is non-profit, it funds itself thought its concerts, the CDs, and so on. There's 70 euros (S$144.5) to pay in tuition fees, but a lot of families don't pay even that, so in a way it's a kind of scholarship.'
Are the Boys cognisant of the unique lifestyle they lead? 'I think they are aware of the special stature they have,' says Wirth. 'They love the audience, they love the applause.
'But many of them only realise how special it all was, after they have left the choir for five to 10 years. As children, you see, you live only in the present. But there comes a point when, after they leave the choir, they realise - 'Oh, people all over the world knew of us'.'
The Vienna Boys' Choir will be performing on Nov 7 and 8 at the Esplanade Concert Hall
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