Les Petits Chanteurs de France

[itsacat]

Two days after the St. George's concert, I am hoping to see the fantastic 'Les Petits Chanteurs de France' choir for a christmas carols concert in the centre of Paris.

They are an excellent choir, well worth checking out.

http://www.petitschanteursdefrance.fr/actualites.html

https://www.facebook.com/Les-Petits-Cha ... 161923706/

[TullyBascombe]

Some other examples:



Is this a fairly new French choir? I hadn't heard of it before. I'm more familiar with Les Petits Chanteurs de St. Marc and Les Petits Chanteurs a La Croix Bois.

[itsacat]

I believe they were founded in 2013 directed by Véronique Thomassin who directed Les Petits Chanteurs a La Croix Bois between 2000 and 2011 and features some singers formerly of PCCB. I saw them a couple of time in concert recently and really enjoyed them.

[alcesalcesobservator]

I only watched the one clip, but they sound good, if perhaps a little unpolished.

[itsacat]

Yeah, they are no Libera yet. But on the other hand, you don't have to drop everything and dash to the closest cafe with Wifi at 1.55pm just to get a decent ticket!

They do have some quite good singers though. Like Cosme here...

[alcesalcesobservator]

Yeah, they are no Libera yet.

Libera doesn't always sound pristine, either. I can remember them sounding "rough around the edges" at various times, usually when there's a shift with members leaving, old treble soloists' voices changing, and newbies' voices not quite up to pulling the extra weight. But give it 6 months to a year, and it all comes right again.

[itsacat]

Saw Libera at St George's, which was fantastic! My seat in the 5th row had a decent view of the stage and one of the large screens. I also saw Kings College Choir at the Albert hall last night, which was OK but a bit middling if I'm honest. However, this Sunday I am hoping to see this which I am looking forward to very much...

[alcesalcesobservator]

Saw Libera at St George's, which was fantastic! My seat in the 5th row had a decent view of the stage and one of the large screens. I also saw Kings College Choir at the Albert hall last night, which was OK but a bit middling if I'm honest. However, this Sunday I am hoping to see this which I am looking forward to very much...

Wow! You sure get around! Have fun.

[itsacat]

[itsacat]

Still no sign of another UK Libera concert although I wonder what the Requiem at St Philips was like last night?

Anyway, while we wait, if anyone is interested...

The Little Singers of France have two concerts coming up, both in Paris. A spring concert on the 3rd April, and a concert for the benefit of the war wounded on April 10th. The second concert can be booked online.

PARIS 14ème
Dimanche 3 avril 2016 - 15h30
CONCERT DE PRINTEMPS
Église Notre Dame des Champs

NOGENT-SUR-MARNE
Dimanche 10 avril 2016 - 16h
CONCERT avec l’Orchestre de la Légion Etrangère
et les Petits Chanteurs de Nogent-sur-Marne
La Scène Watteau 1 Place du Théatre, 94130 Nogent-sur-Marne

[Padmachou]

Hi everyone

I attended the Christmas concert the Petits Chanteurs de France gave yesterday in Paris. I thought I would write a review since the topic has been dead for some time.

It was quite welcoming though it cost me a lot more than I expected (37,5 euros ticket, 2 euros programme, 15 euros album). The quality you get from Libera for an equivalent cost is much better. But it looks like the Petits Chanteurs de France need money and support, which I am glad I provided. I wish they would receive more support... and they could get even better !

The setlist was as follows :

Organ piece : Joseph est bien marié, Claude Balbastre
I am not a fan of organ sound... Not much to say.

Gloria in excelsis Deo - Antonio Vivaldi
A classic one I am a bit tired of hearing.

Then there was a Christmas Lullabye, but the name of the composer does not figure on the program. I wonder if maybe it was John Rutters' but with some parts translated in french. I can't be sure. It was great, though !

Then they performed the french classic "Entre le boeuf et l'âne gris" which I really like. It was lovely. They currently have a young treble soloist, Jean, whose voice is like the perfect cristal innocent young chorister voice you would expect. He gets a lot of solos.

Next was "Les anges dans nos campagnes" (Angels we Have Heard on High), classic one too. I was glad to hear so many carols

They performed "Stille Nacht", with a part in french (douce nuit).

Next was Joy to the World. I always feel a bit weird when it is sang with a french accent But I was thankfully distracted by my seating neighbour, mother of a chorister, who felt regularly compelled to singing along with the choir, though not as well

Next one was mostly an organ piece, with the choir singing along. Dieu de clémence, Noël XII by Louis-Claude Daquin. It was nice !

Two Ave Maria were then performed, and that's when I started being impressed. Most of the pieces, though technically well performed, lacked in emotions. These two did not The soloists were amazing.
First Ave Maria by Charles Aznavour, with a male voice soloist so good I would totally buy his album.
Second was Ave Maria by Vavilov/Caccini, with Jean the treble soloist doing an amazing job. I only wished he would have sang with a microphone. I was seated 4th row and the sound was not enough. The organ of course is TOO LOUD (which is one of the reason I don't like organs with choirs) and there were only 15 boys on stage. Jean has a subtile voice that requires a microphone. I am not sure people seated at the back of the church could hear anything.

Then it was Adeste Fideles, nice one.

The organ player performed two pieces I actually enjoyed, it was surprising to hear it played with this instrument : Sugarplum Fairy and Flower Waltz from the Nutcracker. I only wished the boy would have sung along, it would have been so lovely !

Right after that they sang La marche des rois, by Bizet.

Then Mille Colombes, a lovely one I did not know yet ! I really enjoyed the lyrics.

Then Minuit Chrétien (O Holy Night... I like the lyrics better in english).

Alleluia by Leonard Cohen was a nice surprise ! The arrangement was lovely, and it was sung by a wonderful low voice soloist, again.

Then they got full Christmas-sy, with "White Christmas" (mix of french and english), "Petit papa Noël", "Jingle bells" and "Jingle bell rock". They even got Christmas Hats out of their robes' pockets

I must say the sound of a 15 boys choir was really good ! Of course, Veronique Thomassin is providing a great vocal training. I think around 8 of them got solo parts, either short or long ones, all very good. Sometimes it would be 3 or 4 voices together, like a treble, an alto, tenor and bass. Great sound, too ! They are musically on top !

But, then... imagine they got more money and tried different things.

First, there is only 15 of them, which would allow for plenty of stage mouvements. They could arrange differently for songs and provide more effect. They never move except for the soloists coming front but that is not much and sometimes I was a bit bored. They could do a lot more with not much work. I believe it would help to give more emotion to their singing too !
Also, the choir master is making speeches between songs, with a microphone. You could hear it well, but I wished it would be the kids doing it, it would be cute and interesting to hear them talk about their songs and music work.
Some of them were smiling but not so much, and I wish they would be enjoying them more clearly on stage... It felt all a bit martial, somehow.

What about microphones ? I mean, if they perform with an organ, they really need it. I am not asking for top technology, but a simple microphone front stage for the soloists would be a start !

2 euros programme is not much, agreed. It was 3 paper sheets, white and black, one photo, approximative programme. I guess they lack time, team work, money, to do better. It was already great to have a lot of information on the choir and a setlist. But, look, the choir is GREAT, I would enjoy the names of the boys, a nice souvenir programme I could get signed at the end of the concert...

I am glad I got their Christmas album (USB inside a beautifully designed album, how modern). Though I was a bit disappointed to find out it was recorded years ago, with none of the current soloists. I think they got better ! The sound on the album is not as beautiful and harmonic as the concert I heard. I really hope they record the voices of their soloists, like Jean ! Precious... time is ticking...

I must say though how welcoming it felt ! The boys themselves were selling albums after the concerts, and saying goodbye and thanking you for attending when exiting the church. I briefly had a chat with parents, and asked if they sang services (but they do not, sadly). I think what they are doing and trying to do with the boys is great ! It is all about boys getting experience, singing, travelling, learning good manners, receiving great education. You can tell both the team and the parents want to provide an atmosphere and great content. So, I am thinking, maybe they need publicity, money and support.
I will attend next year if they perform in Paris again (sadly they don't perform a lot in Paris though this is where them come from !). I hope they will sky-rocket in the years to come

[theriverflowson]

Thanks so much for taking the trouble to write such a comprehensive report, Padma! I find it exciting to learn about other choirs (haven't heard of Petits Chanteurs de France before) and their way of presenting themselves, especially when it comes to differences compared to Libera. To offer USB sticks as a data medium is very uncommon, I guess - do you have pictures of it? This might be a way to provide more content than what a CD can capture, like several videos.

I am having a bit of troube finding current videos of the choir, since it seems to be mixed up with videos from Petits Chanteurs du Val de France and Petits Chanteurs à la Croix de Bois. Do you have any recommendations?

[Padmachou]

Ok so this is the Ave Maria by Aznavour. Yesterday the boys were wearing red robes with white cassocks, UK style.


Leonard Cohen Alleluia

You are right it is difficult to find videos on Youtube. I found this recent one with lot of talking from Veronique Thomassin but you will enjoy a snippet of Jean's voice!



Otherwise I recommand following them on Instagram where they often share bits of songs, which drove me to attending one of their concerts. Here Jean (11 yo) singing Pie Jesu :

[Cat-a-tonic]

That Pie Jesu is gorgeous. Can see why you love his voice. Thank you for sharing. Merci pour partager (is that right?)