BY KAREN BOSSICK

The Argyros has presented a wide range of acts ranging from Lyle Lovett to American Ballet Theatre principal Isabella Boylston, who got her start in Sun Valley.

But, as artistic director Casey Mott pointed out, it has never presented a 500-year-old institution—a UNESCO heritage act—until this past week when it presented the Vienna Boys Choir.

The fresh scrubbed boys dressed in their trademark blue and white sailor suits quickly charmed their way into the hearts of the sell-out crowd singing three encores before retreating backstage to indulge in the warm milk and cookies their chorister had requested.

The Sun Valley audience got a taste of Austria as the boys sang classical songs from Johann Strauss—the waltz king, including the familiar “Blue Danube Waltz.” They opened with classical songs from Joseph Haydn and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi.

Then they segued into Leonard Bernstein’s “Hallelujah,” the spiritual “Joshua,” “The Prayer from the movie “Quest for Camelot,” Irving Berlin’s “There’s No Business Like Show Business” and Johannes Brahms “Lullaby.”

They sang “You Raise Me Up,” “Shenandoah” and Beethoven’s “Joyful, Joyful” in perfect English. And they threw in a couple fun ditties, including a Hungarian folk song about chewing cheese curds.

The Vienna Boys Choir started in 1498 with six boys, the chorister told the audience. Now, there are four touring choirs of boy sopranos and altos selected mainly from Austria and named for Austrian composers Bruckner, Haydn, Mozart and Schubert.

Each group tours between nine and 11 weeks, performing a combined 300 concerts each year. And, yes, there is now a Vienna Girls’ Choir, founded in 2004.

Over the years the choir has worked with many composers, including Mozart and Schubert.

The group that performed at The Argyros was coming to the end of a tour that took them through 19 states and seven countries. But, Sun Valley topped the list of stops, the chorister told the audience:

“The air here, the snow on the top of the mountains—it feels more like home.”

You can get another taste of Austria tonight when The Argyros presents the Salzburg Marionette Theater.

The finely crafted marionettes will perform at 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. today—Sunday, Nov. 16—at The Argyros in Ketchum.

Expect a little “Sound of Music,” from this group which will celebrate the musical’s 60th anniversary as their puppet masters guide each from above on 12 strings.

And, yes, they too have earned a place in the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Tickets are available at https://www.theargyros.org/.