Recordings of Rachmaninov’s Vigil service (‘Vespers’) used to be rare jewels in the choral universe, the domain, with some honourable and adventurous exceptions, of professional Russian and other Slavic choirs. That situation has definitively changed, of course, but even so, to have two new versions of the work from Anglophone choirs appear simultaneously is an event worthy of note.

There are, in fact, considerable differences between these two recordings. The Clarion Choir’s sound is distinctly darker, and much is made of the interventions of priest and deacon, even right at the beginning, before ‘Priidite poklonimsya’. King’s College, on the other hand, have a lighter, more buoyant sound and plunge us straight into Rachmaninov’s sound world. The Americans are adept at emphasising the chant origins of so much of the music – before ‘Svete tikhi’, for example, they sing unadorned the Kievan chant on which it is based. King’s College prefer a more frontal dramatic approach, which, I have to say, lacks something in subtlety in this case. They are, on the other hand, very convincing in movements such as ‘Bogoroditse Devo’, where The Clarion Choir prefer a slower speed and more concentration on texture – something they are keen on in general anyway, because they have plenty of low bass power on display.

That bass power facilitates a tremendously cavernous ending to the famous ‘Nyne otpushchaeshi’, of course, which King’s College can’t quite match, but being a smaller ensemble they have to adopt faster speeds in general and rely more on dramatic effect than wallowsome choral glow. Both approaches have their advantages. It is not really possible to say that one of these recordings is objectively better than the other. They are different versions of the same music tailored for different circumstances by differently constituted choirs. Any collector will need to have both, of course, but I continue resolute in my opinion that the best modern recording currently available is that by the Latvian Radio Choir under Sigvards Kl,ava.