Est 1923

Schnittke Concerto for Choir

Record and Artist Details

Composer or Director: Alfred Schnittke

Label: New Direction

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 44

Mastering:

DDD

Catalogue Number: CHAN9332

Tracks:

Composition Artist Credit
Concerto for Choir Alfred Schnittke, Composer
Alfred Schnittke, Composer
Russian State Polyphonic Cappella
Valéry Polyansky, Conductor
Schnittke's Choir Concerto—this ''book of mournful songs'', as the text describes itself—makes great demands on its performers. Listeners also have a fairly tough time, since the texture is so persistently weighty. The music is undeniably imposing, but risks monotony through its sheer consistency.
The first recording of the work, which was composed in 1984-5, was issued in 1992, also on Chandos. The Danish National Radio Choir coupled the piece with more a cappella Schnittke, Minnesang, and it is more than a little odd that Chandos now issue a full-price disc of the Choir Concerto alone.
True, the Russian State Symphonic Cappella, under Valery Polyansky, gave the Choir Concerto's first performance, and it is dedicated to them. Their reading has a particular confidence and authority, and they also bring a special richness of sound and warmth of expression which may be the result of being more at ease with a Russian text than their Danish rivals. This is a more overtly romantic reading than the earlier recording, and by no means inappropriately so, since even if the texts are essentially religious they reveal an abundance of human tensions and emotions. There is nothing slapdash about the Russian choir's romanticism, and the resonant recording never threatens to obscure the textural precision of this superbly sustained performance.
I retain the doubts about the work which I expressed in my earlier review, and am not convinced that this new recording is so much better than its rival as to justify paying full price for less music. It is an impressive achievement, even so.'

Schnittke Concerto for Choir

Concerto for Choir

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