Monday, March 22, 2010

Adios Nonino - Vocal'Son

Buenos Aires, London, New York, Paris - maybe Moscow. Those are the places you might expect to find just the right singers to assemble a chorus to pay honor to Piazzolla's signature song, Adios Nonino. Unexpectedly, you will also find those voices in Wissembourg in the northern Alsace region of France singing together as the group Vocal'Son under the direction of Stéphane Hummel.

Mr. Hummel has put together a very well phrased and perfectly pitched four part mixed chorus version of the classic Adios Nonino. While Eladia Blázquez did provide some Piazzolla-approved lyrics to Adios Nonino, Hummel has wisely chosen an arrangement by Nestor Zadoff which allows the 25 voices of Vocal'Son to highlight the melodic and harmonic beauty of the piece through the use of Swingle Singer style syllabication. The chorus is exceptionally well balanced and has no dominant voice to spoil the overall sound of the group.

There are quite a few choral versions of Adios Nonino posted on YouTube and this is one of the best. If the video does not appear below, click here.

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