After the devastating defeat of the Cossacks by the Red Army in 1917, many of the surviving Cossacks ended up in the Diaspora. In 1921, in an internment camp near Constantinople, Serge Jaroff set about forming a choir. Little did he, or anyone, foresee that the choir that was formed in the cholera-infested camp would become a major international musical fixture. A complicated period saw Jaroff 's choir move to the Greek island of Lemnos, and later to Sofia where they performed in the city's cathedral. After that, money troubles saw the choir trapped in Vienna, and it was the League of Nations that eventually helped them out, putting them in touch with a concert agent in Vienna. From then on they rocketed to stardom, giving over 10,000 concerts. Nicolai Gedda was a regular performer with the choir. Jaroff 's concerts consisted of church music, followed in the second half by songs. That is the programme on these two CDs - traditional Russian Orthodox liturgy in settings by Tchaikovsky, Ippolitov-Ivanov, Bortnyansky and achmaninoff, followed by traditional songs. Also on this collection is the much less well-known female choir that Jaroff established, and their recordings are a comparative rarity. |
