Voices Above the Crowd

Adapted for the silver screen in the 1980s, William Styron’s novel Sophie’s Choice uses a series of flashbacks to examine the life of a survivor from Nazi-occupied Poland. Acclaimed English composer Nicolas Maw talks about turning the novel into an opera, which opens this weekend at London’s Covent Garden. Nikolai Kachanov, director of New York’s Russian Chamber Chorus, visits with some traditional Christmas song. Plus, WNYC’s George Preston reviews a recording of a previously unheard of opera by the little-known 18th-century composer Reinhard Keiser.
The Russian Chamber Chorus of New York’s repertoire covers centuries of styles as varied as ancient liturgical chants, Russian Baroque, folk music, and contemporary classical works.
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