A lovely live "Creation" from Vienna - and it's all male
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 12/22/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I agree with everything noted by the reviewer above -- this is a relaxed, genial reading of Haydn's choral masterpiece, with a distinclty Viennese feeling. The presence of the Vienna Boys Choir adds a certain cachet -- they sing veyr well -- and conductor Peter Marschik is respectful of the score while bringing a good deal of joy and good humor. The soloists are also a mite careful but all are good, especially the tenor. (Only the fluttery male soprano is off-putting, with his tendency to lunge at high notes and shriek at loud volume, but he's undeniably musical.) The recording is extracted from live concerts in 1994, and you can hear a minimum of audience and stage noise. Nobody will ever recommend this as a first choice -- I can't even find a review online from Fanfare of the Gramophone -- but it's a lot more enjoyable than big-dour efforts from Gardiner, Jochum, Christie, Harnoncourt, et al. Any "Creation" that keeps me smilling gets the thumbs up."