Trinity Boys Choir

[Luckdragon]

That other choir from Croydon, the Trinity Boys Choir, will be performing in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the Opera de Rouen Normandie from January 27-31.
Tickets are EUR 10 to 68: https://billetterie.operaderouen.fr/sel ... 8485014569

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[Celtic]

I attended my first concert since December, the BBC Symphony Orchestra with some Rachmaninov and a premier by Marcus Lindberg in the first half. Then in the second half Galina Ustvolskaya's Symphony No. 1. Featuring two treble soloists from the Trinity Boys Choir. Well, it was fantastic, both soloists did fantastically well, but the lead treble who did most of the singing I think was Oliver and he was brilliant. The concert then finished with some wonderful Stravinsky.

It was broadcast on Radio 3 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001hxl1 There are quite extensive solos by the boys at the start of the second half of the evening.

The Trinity Boys:

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Trinity.jpg (450.56 KiB) Viewed 4901 times

Trinity.jpg (450.56 KiB) Viewed 4901 times

[Luckdragon]

This was the BBC Symphony Orchestra with some Rachmaninov and a premier by Marcus Lindberg in the first half. Then in the second half Galina Ustvolskaya's Symphony No. 1. Featuring two treble soloists from the Trinity Boys Choir. Well, it was fantastic, both soloists did fantastically well, but the lead treble who did most of the singing I think was Oliver and he was brilliant. The concert then finished with some wonderful Stravinsky.

Posted yesterday on IG:

[Celtic]

Another production I would have loved to have seen was The Turn of the Screw with the Budapest Festival Orchestra.

It featured Ben from the Trinity Boys Choir as Miles and Lucy as Flora. Lucy is apparently the twin sister of Oliver who sang in Friday's concert!



It was at least recorded for radio and was broadcast last night on BBC Radio 3.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001j4rd

[Celtic]

...Then in the second half Galina Ustvolskaya's Symphony No. 1. Featuring two treble soloists from the Trinity Boys Choir. Well, it was fantastic, both soloists did fantastically well, but the lead treble who did most of the singing I think was Oliver and he was brilliant.

One thing I didn't mention was that the singing in Galina Ustvolskaya's Symphony No. 1 was in Russian, but there were surtitles with a translation, and wow, the words were bleak. Decided to look up the lyrics today...

This is sung so sweetly by two boy trebles, and then you read the translation.

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Ciccio
Ciccio lives in the basement, by the garbage dump,
He sleeps on a rusty, broken bed.
A table and a stool —
There’s no more furniture in the basement.
Up there, outside the cellar window,
A lot of people pass by during the day.
He climbs on the sacks,
To count the shoes outside the window.
There are gardens and glades on earth.
Thousands of splashing fountains spray.
Down the walls of the dark basement there’s always
Slow trickling water.
Carousel
The whites are having fun at the fair —
People are riding the carousel,
Round, shiny, like the sun.
Children on each golden ray,
Flying around, never getting tired.
You would spin on a ray too,
But they won’t let you: you’re black.
You say, “I was born here in this country
In this country called the States.
I grew up in the sunshine with the other boys
Give me a place in America too!”
Saturday night
In a white envelope, a week’s pay.
Dad touched it and said, “It’s not enough.”
Mum said: “We owe everyone.
Rice, macaroni prices have gone up again.”
Dad thought: “Well, then work harder!…”
Sadness and concern in his voice.
Mum said with great sadness:
“You won’t be able to go to the movies tomorrow, I’m afraid.”
Dad added: “This week,
It looks like there won’t be a carousel for you either.”
It’s sad, but understandable
The weekly pay in the white envelope is to blame for everything.
Boy from Módena
— You were happy yesterday, boy from Módena,
But today you don’t go out to play in the yard.
— Yesterday is not today. Today I saw,
How they shot our fathers, at point-blank range, and killed them.
What was yesterday is gone for me.
I’ve learned a lot since yesterday.
“We take junk!”
— Hey, old man, “we take junk!”
What are you carrying in your sack?
— I’m carrying a shoe with no heel,
A sleeve without a jacket,
A bow without a violin and a collar,
A noseless teapot and coffee pot
And a cast-iron pot without a bottom.
I’m carrying a minister without a briefcase.
He’s been ruling for a week
And called the country to war…
He’s at the very bottom of my bag!
The waiting room
This is a large train station.
The building has a waiting room.
If you can’t find shelter anywhere,
Pretend you’re waiting for a train.
Sitting on a bench between two knots
Sleep to the tune of steam train whistles.
I’m asleep, sir, don’t wake me up!
But it’s not the train I’m waiting for, it’s the day.
I’m carried not by wheels, but by legs.
During the day, I walk and walk along the road.
I wait for work, I seek sustenance,
But I return to the waiting room…
The rumble of the locomotive, long and resounding,
Reminds me of a factory whistle.
Oh, conductor, don’t disturb me
From seeing work even in my dreams!
When the factory chimneys die
Chimneys, chimneys,
No longer smoke rises above you.
Chimneys, chimneys.
The whistle of the workers no longer calls,
The lifeless factory stands.
As if someone had closed the gates
And stopped the heart within.
Wake up, whistle! Day and night
Whistle, call the working people!
Let them, amid the dead calm,
Awaken the heart of the city!
Epilogue. Sun.
Sun!
Sun!
Sun!
Sun!
The sun has not yet set behind the house,
But for you the light has already gone out.
This is the beginning of a cruel illness.
It’s not evening, but eternal darkness.
Sun!
Sun!
Sun!
Sun!
Sun!

[LordG]

I stumbled across this post from the "Kieler Knabenchor". They had held a concert 2 days ago together with
"Trinity Boys Choir NINE".

"Trinity Boys Choir NINE" are currently on a concert tour across northern Germany and Århus (DK). They will be back
home on Wednesday.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/158035124 ... ingle_unit

Heute hatte der Kieler Knabenchor hohen Besuch. Der Trinity Boys Choir NINE aus London gestaltete ein sehr stimmungsvolles Begegnungskonzert in der Kieler Pauluskirche. Unter dem Titel „Hymns and Lamantations“ vereinten sich Chorwerke beider Chöre zu einem gelungenen Konzertabend. Als Zugabe erklang „Nun ruhen alle Wälder“, gesungen von beiden Chören auf deutsch und englisch.
Der Trinity Boys Choir gibt morgen ein weiteres Konzert in Rendsburg und reist dann weiter nach Kappeln und Århus. Heute und genießen sie erstmal die Gastfreundschaft einiger Knabenchor-Familien.

The Kiel Boys' Choir had a distinguished visitor today. The Trinity Boys Choir NINE from London gave a very atmospheric encounter concert in the Pauluskirche in Kiel. Under the title "Hymns and Lamantations", choral works from both choirs combined to create a successful concert evening. The encore was "Nun ruhen alle Wälder", sung by both choirs in German and English.

The Trinity Boys Choir will give another concert tomorrow in Rendsburg and then travel on to Kappeln and Århus. Today and for the time being they enjoy the hospitality of some boys' choir families.

https://www.facebook.com/kielerknabench ... 7DMc8AShRl

[LordG]

[Celtic]

[Citlec]

Their director is retiring!

But I was lucky enough to hear them in one of their rare UK concerts recently and there were some fantastic solos including a brilliant "Where'er you walk" from Handel's Semele. Given how many soloists this choir has provided over the years to various opera productions it will be interesting to see how they fare under whoever directs them next! Perhaps the new director won't have all of his concerts abroad this time.

[Yorkie]

Their director is retiring!

But I was lucky enough to hear them in one of their rare UK concerts recently and there were some fantastic solos including a brilliant "Where'er you walk" from Handel's Semele. Given how many soloists this choir has provided over the years to various opera productions it will be interesting to see how they fare under whoever directs them next! Perhaps the new director won't have all of his concerts abroad this time.

I might well be misremembering here (forgive me if I'm wrong) but didn't Trinity school set a certain Robert Prizeman on his path to a career in music?

[Luckdragon]

The Magic Flute will be performed on various dates through July 21 at Glyndebourne



Gianni Schicchi will be performed on various dates through July 7 at Grange Park Opera in Surrey.

[Citlec]

I might well be misremembering here (forgive me if I'm wrong) but didn't Trinity school set a certain Robert Prizeman on his path to a career in music?

I think so, yes!

The Magic Flute will be performed on various dates through July 21 at Glyndebourne

Gianni Schicchi will be performed on various dates through July 7 at Grange Park Opera in Surrey.

The middle one of that trio was the one I got for Turn of the Screw in December, has a great voice, but was also an amazing actor! Met him after the show and got his autograph.

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2023-12-13 - Turn of the Screw Bath (51).JPG (616.81 KiB) Viewed 225 times

Sadly both of those venues are WELL WELL outside my price range. Grange Park Opera has a dress code and still strongly encourages black-tie... so definitely not a venue for an oik like me. Which is a shame because I'd never heard of Gianni Schicchi before and would love to see it!

[Luckdragon]

Here's one of the other trios and Arlo singing the piece from Semele.

Wow, Clitlic.

You should start a thread and share more of these front row gems.

[Citlec]

You should start a thread and share more of these front row gems.

I used to post videos quite often, that's why I still have 73 subscribers! But it is 6+ years since I did so, after copyright complaints from a music director and then from a composer I decided it wasn't worth the hassle and effectively closed the channel by removing all the content. The videos I've posted, apart from the CVMS one (as I want to ask Scott if he would like a copy), will be removed in a couple of days, too. Plus, I don't bother trying to record video very often either, so I actually don't have much to share these days.

[Surpinto]

Thanks for the videos, good stuff! Funny thing about Magic Flute, is that even though I've been an opera fan from a young age, I never realized that trebles were used for the three spirits until many years (any several performances) later, having heard and seen the opera with women singing those parts. Women are still used in most performances as good trebles are only made available for the bigger performances....I guess they're more of a hassle.

Interestingly, Mozart wrote several operas in which women play the roles of young boys and young men. Everything from Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro to Sesto in The Clemency of Titus. In the latter, the first performance was apparently done by a castrato, unlike the former which was always a woman's role.