Evening star., 1949-05-27
Refreshing Concert Given
|Bv Puerto RicoChorus

N4A ApRE&4 n \@i A4NS4C &AAA4 VA
Sunday. Although this Is the
first tour the chorus has made In
the United States. 1t has given
more than 500 concerts on the
island and sung numerous world
wide hrosdcasts since its oreani-
Eation in 1896.
This country will be indebted TO
the university singers for making
known q fresh and original type
of choral work. Mr.. Rodriguez
brings . special esprit TO his di-'
recting and It's influence Is felt
In the response Of the singers.
There Is q lightness. charm and
iinesse In the groups style that
Is . pleasant relief from the seri-
Gus and heavy performances so
often heard. Only an artist Of
Mr.. Rodriguezs calibre could
transfer his own fantasy to q
vocal unit and never oyerstep the
pounds Of good taste. He treats
he ensemble In an almost instru-
mental way and achieves many
effects in tone and Interpretation
such as orchestral choirs might
10.
Evidence Of rigorous training Is
present constantly. yet the men,
,ers sing from their hearts while
maintaining discipline. 1t is all
20 natural and spontaneous that
It is difficult to remember hours
of practice have been spent. The
youth Of the singers has some
thing to do with 1t. for their ages
range between the 1924 bracket.
The program was most skillfully
arranged and quite out Of the or
dinary. Mr.. Rodriguez gave .
clever pointer to other choral di-
rectors by selecting short works.
each Of which has some speciality
in it.
With only two exceptions. the
seven groups Of numbers con-
sisted of three selections each
and were divided into Religious
Chants, Music of the Renaissance.
Folksongs. Choral Novelties. Melo-
dies from Old Spain, Latin Ameri-
can Songs and Popular Music Of
Puerto Rico. The majority of
these were arranged by Mr..
Rodriguez.
The voices are pure and sweet.
If not particularly notable in
quality. 1t is what the singers can
do with them that counts. From
the technical and interpretive
sides. the most remarkable effects
were attained In Certon's 'Ie ne
10 Sc dire" Di Lasso's 20 cchi
mama mia" Purcell's I'm These
Delightful Pleasant Groves" the
Palestinian song, "Tumbah," and
the vocal arrangements of Scria-
bins Prelude. op. Is. No. al
made into q vocalise: Schubert's
Moment Musicale. op. %. No. 8"
and Strauss "Pizzicato Polka"
In the chants. Jerusalem
Surge" by Ingegneri. Rodriguez's 8
"Kyrie eleison" and the tradi-
tional Hebrew ELI. Eili." as also
In the Spanish melodies. the skill
Of the ensemble in attack. har-
monization. phrasing and dynam-
les was best demonstrated. The
more popular music from Uru-
quay. Mexico, Cuba and Puerto
Rico could not be duplicated by
any singers not having in their
blood the spirit and rhythrn Of
these sor,4s. The program was
sung q cappeila and several men
soloists won ovations. A tribute to
this country was the inclusion of
Fcsterss s0ld Black doe" and
even this familiar song had q new
slant In Mr.. Roririsuez's arrange
ment and direction.
In every respect the concert
was . most refreshing event. An
other program will be given at
. o'clock tonight In the Pan
American Union to which the
public Is invited. The choir will
sing at Walter Reed Hospital this
afternoon and at the Bethesda
Naval Medical Center tomorrow.