Rachmaninoff: Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 31 (Excerpts)

“There are enough versions of this around to make a new one irrelevant if it really isn’t ‘golden-voiced’. Fortunately, this one is glorious, carried by a choir that Kaspars Putninš has burnished and polished till every tone glows. The Super Audio recording also helps… It’s unlikely any forthcoming recordings will top this one.” *****

Interpretation ***** (Outstanding)     Sound Quality **** (Very Good)     Repertoire *** (Good)      Booklet **** (Very Good)

“… a concentrated interpretation full of beautiful sound and cleverly dosed sentiment: no gross overpowering of supposedly spiritual ambition is unfolded, nothing is artificially blackened in the low range or made to rattle unnecessarily in the high range. Rachmaninoff by himself, with the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir as the fabulous instrument of his music.”

“… this is a magnificent recording, and the Lord’s Prayer … sung here of course in the original Slavonic, is one of the highlights, superbly controlled and shaped. Recording quality is outstanding; the Niguliste Church in Tallin proves yet again to be a perfect venue.”

Classic Today Recommendation

Artistic Quality 10      Sound Quality 10     Overall Impression 10

“… The ensemble sound is superb: balanced, dynamically flexible and sensitively oriented to the gesture of this music. This can also be seen in the differentiated design, which gives this rather simple, mostly uncomplicated music a moving presentation. The sonority that the excellent choir unfolds is impressive and one begins to suspect what the charm of this music can be.”

Performance *****      Recording *****

“…warmly recommended.”

Recommended

“Music of the Russian Orthodox Church has rarely sounded so utterly beautiful as it does here.”