Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

There is no Russian Orthodox Church in my part of Buckinghamshire so I can review this only as an interested observer who greatly enjoyed Tavener's Greek Orthodox compositions. The basic review is that this sounds like the real thing: as Russian as War And Peace and as passionate as, well, as Rachmaninov. The singing is a cappella, as one would expect, and the performances are superb. The soprano is Raissa Palmu; the contralto is Erja Wimeri and the tenor Eugen Antoni. I list these names not because they are well known (at least not outside Finland) but because they deserve all the praise I can give them as does the Finnish National Opera Chorus. Any reader who appreciates unaccompanied choral singing really should invest five pounds in hearing this. The composition comes from Rachmaninov's most creative period which culminated in his Second and Third Piano Concertos. 'Vespers', the popular name for the 'All-Night Vigil', was inspired by the Russian Orthodox Saturday Night All-Night Vigil. The texts are in Old Church Slavonic but the CD booklet offers a helpful transliteration and also an English translation but this is music to rejoice in rather than follow along.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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