The Prague Philharmonic choir join over a dozen others who have recorded Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil, a work once thought the special property of the Russian choirs who are, of course, prominent in the lists. The Czechs sing it without a cantor, and more as a concert work than some of the others do. Though they take the famous scale in the Nunc dimittis, descending to a profound B flat, in their stride, they are not as sonorous as some others, and their particular contribution is to sing the music lightly and flexibly, with a lively response to the words. They have excellent sopranos, safe in intonation when attacking the exposed high entries in thirds which are a feature of the music, and a good tenor for the three numbers that involve him as a soloist. The Magnificat, with all its tempo changes and shifts of register, is expressively done, as are the light rhythms of ‘Blessed art Thou, O Lord’.

Choosing between what is now a good range of fine recordings is not simple. The classic Russian versions with the Leningrad Glinka Choir under Chernushenko and the USSR Ministry of Culture Choir under Polyansky (Melodiya – nla) still carry great weight, though the recordings are old, and there is much to be said for the Corydon Singers’ performance under Matthew Best. The new Czech version is attractive, but does not really take precedence over these three.