A year ago we would have found an Asian market in the New Synagogue in Velké Meziříčí. However, the town decided to buy the building and has started to make more fitting and dignified use of it. On Wednesday 5 June, during the ongoing Concentus Moraviae festival, audiences could visit this heritage site and enjoy a chamber concert by singer and violinist Iva Bittová and her women's choir Babačka, featuring musicians Jakub Jedlinský (accordion) and Pavel Fischer (violin).
The duo Jedlinský - Fischer combines traditional ethnic music with elements of classical, jazz and improvisation in their work and playing, as the musicians demonstrated several times during the evening. In the programme brochure, Jan Špaček describes Iva Bittová as an artiste "free of lyrical clichés" and portrays her personality as a blend of singing, violin-playing, invention and rich acting. But I’d be so bold as to say that that's not all. The artiste also incorporated the Babačka amateur women's choir into a varied programme based primarily on folk songs, with whom she performed several musical numbers. During the evening, Iva Bittová (unplanned and completely natural) also presented herself as a lecturer (teacher), who not only brought out the musicality of the choir, but also that of the audience through singing together, light improvisation and working with the body - rhythmical stomping and clapping.
For many, the dramaturgy of the concert might have seemed relaxed - untethered, belied by a deeper look at the individual numbers. It must be said that the evening teetered on the edge of being a serious/staged concert and music making. But that had its charm. The relaxed, friendly atmosphere was also helped by the positioning of the performers, who had the stage set up in the middle with the audience sitting all around, which gave singer Bittová space to walk around the set and interact with the audience. The choir was placed in the auditorium: when the singers came from the crowd to the musicians and returned to their seats, it again added a small yet refreshing detail to the concept as a whole.
The trio chose to start with songs from Janáček's cycle Moravian Folk Poetry in Song, which they performed as a unified, well-composed arrangement. Right from the start here, violinist Pavel Fischer showed an impressive mastery of technique, and a refined and tastefully sharpened tone and voice in his duet with Iva Bittová in the song Stálosť. The singer showed absolute control of her voice and elaborate technique (especially in the melismatic Eastern-style ornamentation) throughout the composition, which she spiced up with gestures and a strong stage presence during the love songs, especially those with a Midsummer theme. The highlight of this number was the song "Koníčky milého" (Horses of My Dear One), with the Babačka choir joining in with enthusiasm, drive and energy from the very first bars. Even though it is an amateur ensemble, I must admit that the members of the choir pleasantly surprised us with the quality of their singing, intonation and arrangement: such as in the series of songs Vimt, Jeden překrásný stromeček, Ujížděli vápeníci with its three-part texture, and in other compositions.
The selected repertoire consisted not only of Moravian songs, but also Jewish and Gypsy melodies. One attention-grabbing number was the spectacular instrumental Freylech by Pavel Fischer and Jakub Jedlinský, who played with the style and temperament of Jewish songs. Both of them showed off their skills in their solo performances, with the audience going wild. A series of Jewish songs and lyrics, Huljet, Dem millers trem, Lomir, was also prepared by Iva Bittová and Babačka, who sang from the songbook accompanied by violin and accordion. Once again, Pavel Fischer's tapping and drumming on the body of his violin was an effective element, representing the percussive component in the arrangements and enriching the songs with imaginative rhythms. Gypsy melodies were represented by titles such as Felabu mange, Loli ruža and the very well-known and popular song O postaris avel (Ide postár, ide), along with others. Iva Bittová's overtone singing in Karpatská was also remarkable. One piece that stood out in compositional terms was Svatběnka, written by Pavel Fischer. The work was dominated by ostinato rhythmic-melodic movement, later isolated in the violin, with the use of empty open and fifth fretting adding a folk touch.
The concert closed with two distinctive pieces: the first was Halgato, a chardas, once transcribed by the singer's father Koloman Bitto, and O postaris avel as already mentioned, in which the members of the Babačka choir said goodbye to the audience. The audience showed their appreciation of the concert, full of musicality and versatility, with a standing ovation, followed by an encore featuring the song Lásko, Boże, lásko.
Programme:
Leoš Janáček - Moravian Folk Poetry in Song
Iva Bittová – Vimt, Jeden překrásný stromeček, Ujížděli vápeníci
Pavel Fischer, Jakub Jedlinský - Freylech
Iva Bittová - Felabu amnge, Loli rose, La khere bala
Pavle Fischer, Jakub Jedlinský – Janošek, Bešla e čhaj
Pavel Fischer - Svatběnka
Pavel Fischer, Jakub Jedlinský - Keby ma mamko - Karpatská
Iva Bittová – Méně Majka jednu ima – Jakub Jedlinský – Račenica
Pavel Fischer, Jakub Jedlinský – Co sa stalo v Radošovcách
Iva Bittová – Hujlet, Dem millers trem, Lomir
Iva Bittová – Počůvaj, Lulaj – Koloman Bitto – Halgato, čardáš
Iva Bittová – O postaris avel
Iva Bittova - vocals, violin
Jedlinský – Fischer duo:
Jakub Jedlinský - accordion, vocals
Pavle Fischer - violin, vocals
Wednesday 5 June 2024 at 8 p.m., New Synagogue Velké Meziříčí
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