Igor Stravinsky, Robert Craft - Symphony Of Psalms: Three Russian Sacred Choruses
STYLE: Classical RATING OUR PRODUCT CODE: 23254- LABEL: Naxos 8557504 FORMAT: CD Album ITEMS: 1
Reviewed by Steven Whitehead
The opening "Three Russian Sacred Choruses" could only have come from Russia. The singing by the Gregg Smith Singers is unaccompanied, as is always the case in Russian Orthodox worship, and one can almost smell the incense and feel the cold. Next the Singers are joined by the Orchestra of St Luke's for a Mass written soon after Stravinsky had settled in America, which goes to show that even if you take the man out of Russia you cannot take Russia out of the man. We then move into the 1950s for "Cantata". This is a more challenging work that consists of nine canons, the centrepiece being the "Ricerace" for tenor (Thomas Bogdan in this recording), in which Christ foretells his Crucifixion. Then we have a setting of the story of the Tower of Babel from the book of Genesis. The Narration by David Wilson-Johnson is delightfully over the top in a Cecil B de Mille sort of way with some outstanding music almost getting lost behind it. We conclude with "The Symphony of Psalms" in its 1948 revision, which the composer dedicated "to the glory of God". The performances are uniformly excellent, as we would expect under the baton of Robert Craft, arguably the composer's pre-eminent interpreter.
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