Adrian Quanjer adds a second five-star HRAudio.net review for PaTRAM’s new Teach Me Thy Statutes recording:
“No matter how many recordings of Russian Orthodox choral music you have, this one should be on top of your pile. Directed, sung and recorded under the best imaginable circumstances, it’s a must for all devotees of Slavonic Orthodox chant. Pavel Chesnokov, choirmaster, conductor, composer, teacher, is perhaps the most prolific Russian choral composer, with around 400 sacred titles, of which until now none were available in high resolution. All the more reason to welcome this new release. …
Having lived there for some time I visited several orthodox churches big and small, including ancient wooden ones in the countryside; often during divine liturgical services. Time and again I was struck by the mystical singing, underpinned by these deep basses, leaving me with an otherworldly awareness. It’s not just the low notes that make it so special, it’s the typical, broad resonance and sonority reaching parts deep down in your consciousness you didn’t think you had.
Listening to the reinforced PaTRAM Institute Male Choir of the Patriarch Tikhon Russian-American Institute, the same emotional experience surfaced. It felt as though I was back in the Kyiv Saint Volodymyr Cathedral, with the difference that the quality of this combined American-Russian choir, with its large bass complement, including 5 basso profundi, so accurate and skillfully directed by its conductor and choirmaster, Vladimir Gorbik, attains a level of perfection one does not normally get in a regular Sunday service. …
Many on this site will share Reference Recordings philosophy that sound is as important as the music. In this respect both RR and Sound Mirror are doing, once more, the high resolution community an immense service. I have a choice collection of orthodox sacred singing by highly respected Ukrainian (Kyiv Chamber Choir) and Russian (St. Petersburg Chamber Choir) as well as some lesser known choirs. But never before had I heard such magical singing, revealing, as only the best multi-channel high resolution recording is able to deliver, the spatial ‘hollowness’ of a large orthodox church. Furthermore, there is no ‘muddying’ of voices between the various groups, nor any distortion in the louder passages, as is so often noticeable in low-res quality.…
After hours of intense listening, as well as comparing with other liturgical chant, I arrived at only one conclusion: On no account to be missed.”
Read the full review on HRAudio.net
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