> [Archived] Chronicles
The Radio Children's Choir Lives up to Expectations
On Saturday, 30th March, 2013, the Radio Hall welcomed an audience of all ages. The reason? A concert of the Radio Children's Choir with music from Walt Disney's animated movies. Whereas last October, an online editorial announced Carmina Burana at the Radio Hall, at the end of March it was Walt Disney's famous characters' turn: Little Mermaid, Tarzan, Cinderella and Lion King sold out the tickets one week before the concert.
It was a pleasure to watch and listen to the members of the Children's Choir, who wore their new costumes for the first time; these have been designed by themselves, had bright colours and a little bow as decoration.
The hall was full, particularly with children who were not too shy to interact with the young artists on stage and answer me casually:
'Yes, I loved it.'
'Very nice. They had extraordinary voices, especially that row in the back, when I heard them sing, I got goose bumps. Very nice voices.'
'I liked the children.'
'I loved it. Especially the songs from The AristoCats and Little Mermaid.'
'Everything is so beautiful!'
The Radio Children's Choir lived up to the expectations. In just one and a half hours they passed from romantic moments in Lady and the Tramp to the soft jazz of The AristoCats. Nothing could have taken place without hours of rehearsals, co-ordinated by Voicu Popescu:
'It is an encouraging idea for us. It is clear that such projects must be taken towards the audience to get the necessary feedback. I must say that at the end there were a lot of young children who told me here, on stage, that they wanted to come and sing with the Radio Children's Choir. This is the most effective way to bring new members to the Radio Chirldren's Choir.'
Parents and children alike sang along and danced to Disney's best known soundtracks.
The chief conductor of the Radio Orchestras and Choirs, Tiberiu Soare, was no exception:
'It was splendid, a very, very beautiful concert. One of my main criteria is whether my boy likes it or not. And Alexandru, who is five and a half years old, really liked it.'
On Saturday night I became a child once again, just like the parents and grandparents at the Radio Hall did.
After an hour and a half, I honestly regretted that the journey through Disney's fairytale world, full of innocence and fantasy had to come to an end.
Translated by Irina Borțoi and Elena Daniela Radu
MTTLC, Bucharest University