Sacred Treasures: Choral Masterworks from Russia
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Brand: Heart Beat RecordsComposer: Anonymous
Composer: Sergey Rachmaninov
Composer: Dimitry Bortnyansky
Composer: Nikolai Sr Kedrov
Composer: Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky
Composer: Dobri Hristov
Composer: Alexander Grechaninov
Composer: Grigor F. Lvovsky
Composer: Recorded Sound
Composer: Bulgarian Chant
Composer: Russian Orthodox Chant
Conductor: Georgi Robev
Conductor: Valery Polyansky
Conductor: Nikolai Matveyev
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 1998-02-17
Music Label: Hearts of Space
Soundtracks:
- Russian Cathedral Bells
- Rachmaninov / Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 31: Great Ektenia
- Rachmaninov / Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 31: Hymn of Praise
- Rachmaninov / Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 31: Hymn of the Cherubim
- Bortniansky / Hymn of the Cherubim (excerpt)
- Kedrov / Our Father
- Rachmaninov / Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 31: Fervent Supplication
- Rospev / The Noble Joseph
- Tchaikovsky / Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 41: Amen. And with Thy Spirit
- Russian Monastic Vespers (excerpt)
- Rachmaninov / Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 31: Bless the Lord, O my Soul
- Tchaikovsky / Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 41: Hymn of the Cherubim (excerpt)
- Christov / Hymn of the Cherubim (excerpts/edited)
- Tchaikovsky / Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 41: Our Father
- Gretchaninov / I have Chosen the Blissful
- Lvovski / Hymn of the Cherubim
- Final Bells
Music reviews of Sacred Treasures: Choral Masterworks from Russia
Music Review: A Soviet version of Russian music
Rating: 3 Stars
I admit to some strong bias here, having sung on the recording of Tchaikovsky's Liturgy available here from the Russian Chamber Chorus of New York. I was in that choir for five years, and our conductor's view of how to properly interpret Russian music became my own.
Because of Stalin's efforts to cleanse the country of the influence of religion, many musicians and composers were sent to Siberia. They were replaced with those from peasant backgrounds. The result was a huge change in how classical Russian music was performed, becoming less subtle, more interested in brute power and flash.
This recording features a massive and powerful choir. But the listener mostly hears a series of vowel sounds, with the consonants lost in the shuffle. Dynamic range is not as large as it could be. Phrasing is largely absent and we hear a steady wall of sound instead. Precision of rhythm is spotty, what consonants we do hear are frequently smeared. Pitch and richness of tone are good, but on high notes, inevitably given the size of the choir, some members strain.
Having performed and recorded Tchaikovsky's Liturgy I am very familiar with the piece. But listening to this recording of excerpts from it I sometimes barely recognized it as the same work. Tchaikovsky gives us great artistry, frequently crecendos and decrecendos on a single phrase. Each choral voice comes and goes like a wave, not all together like a tsunami in all but a few places. The balance of voices is constantly moving.
I encourage you to listen to the samples available here of the Russian Chamber Chorus's recording of Tchaikovsky's Liturgy, compare the same pieces. This recording is more a Vegas neon version of this great artwork than the fine art it deserves to be shown as. James Oestreich, the New York Times critic, put the Russian Chamber Chorus recording at #4 on his top ten list of classical releases for 2001, and said that if you had not heard it "You only think you know Tchaikovsky."
I hope you give the real Russian classical tradition a listen. It deserves your time, and it will pay you back with a huge amount of pleasure.
Description of Sacred Treasures: Choral Masterworks from Russia
All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.Although this collection intends to transport the soul, it has a tremendously potent low-end depth to it that earns high marks indeed in the worlds of vocal and liturgical music. Dmitri Bortniansky's "Hymn of the Cherubim" is performed with a gracefulness that gets a warming fatness from the production, as does Alexander Gretchaninov's "I Have Chosen the Blissful," which travels with a ringing resonance. In a year of fine choral works--check out Sequentia's Hildegard cycle box, 900 Years or Arvo Pärt's Kanon Pokajanen for a "something old, something new" mix--this collection is highly valued for its sonic integrity and its excellent anthological mix. --Andrew Bartlett
Words cannot describe poignantly enough the exquisite, angelic voices that permeate the heart and exalt the soul on Sacred Treasures. The most highly regarded Russian and Bulgarian choirs sing the hymns of Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Lvovski, and other composers in the Russian Orthodox Church's tradition of "Divine Worship" (worship through chant). From the first tolling bells that open the CD with a willowy, floating piece from Rachmaninov's Liturgy of St. John, to the final bells closing the door on "Hymn of the Cherubim" (Grigory Lvovski), this CD creates a gentle, distinctly Byzantine glory. The rhythms slowly wisp along while the choirs' baritones, tenors, and sopranos mesh into one expansive blessing. Meant to comprehensively gather not all Russian liturgical pieces but rather hymns that emote an inner tranquility and celestial grace, Sacred Treasures plays like a piece of heaven on Earth. --Karen Karleski
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