Where's the wind ensemble, and where's the organ?
C. Canfield | san francisco | 12/15/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is a beautifully sung collection of sacred music from four composers of the Romantic Period.
There are no instruments. This is a purely a cappella recording. The descriptions of the works in the "On this CD" section of this page are misleading.
Ave Maria (I), for chorus & organ in B flat major (Liszt) is without organ.
Ave verum corpus, for chorus & organ ad lib (Liszt) is without organ.
Repsonsorien und Antiphonen (The Breviary), responses & antiphons for male chorus & organ ad lib (Liszt) is without organ.
Deutsche Messe (German Mass), for mixed chorus, wind ensemble & organ, D. 872 is without wind ensemble and organ.
The performance here is absolutely flawless. I don't have the liner notes because I bought the MP3 version, so I don't know where it was recorded, but the character of the room is a major component of this recording, giving the sound a distinctly sacred reverberative quality. The blend and intonation of this choir are flawless, and the dynamic expression is quite broad and sensitive. I bought the album primarily for the Schubert German Mass, but the other pieces have been a generous bonus. The total running time of all the tracks is nearly 80 minutes.
Liszt's minimalist harmonizations of plainchant ring out in the (unknown) space beautifully. The Ave verum corpus is not at all minimal, but rather a rich bath of harmonic luxury that is exploited to its full potential here.
The Brahms double choir piece is recorded very nicely with a good amount of spatial separation in the left and right channels for each choir.
I probably would not have bought this album if I had known that the Schubert German Mass would be missing the instruments, but I'm glad I did. The hymn quality of the German Mass is brought out nicely, and the wind ensemble is hardly missed since it mostly doubles the chorus.
Highly recommended."
Choral joy
Robert J. Sauerbrey | S.E. Indiana near Cincinnati | 06/13/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The recording is superb. Sensitive interpretation makes the voice of each composer clear.
Unfortunately, there is no indication on the case or in the liner notes of individual composers, and the title might suggest that only Schubert and Brahms are represented. Actually, Bruckner and Liszt are a significant part of the recording, but that becomes apparent only when one brings the disc up in a program like iTunes which then lists the composers of the tracks. This is inconvenient but does not detract from the quality of the recording--it indicates a bit of carelessness on the part of the publisher.
Highly recommended, but check it out on your computer."
Track Listings (23) - Disc #1