Peace -- A Choral Album for Our Times
One very noticeable quality of this CD is the remarkable dynamic range of the choir: performing a cappella throughout, their training and commitment allows them to sing through the entire dynamic spectrum from pianissimo to fortissimo with all the gradations in between, thus giving the music, which is uniformly serene, even greater variety than is inherent in its several nationalities and styles. Victoria's "O magnum mysterium" has just the right spooky piety while the same text, set by the contemporary composer Morton Lauridsen, remains faithful to antiquity while injecting some new colors.  Rachmaninov's flavorful "Blazen muzh" reaches a fine intensity; the crescendo and de-crescendo in Randall Thompson's six-minute meditation on the single word "Alleluia" is beautifully handled; Barber's vocal arrangement of his "Adagio for Strings," is, as ever, gorgeous, and Tavener's "Song for Athene" is one of his least annoying works, handsomely sung here. Schoenberg's somewhat thorny "Friede auf Erden" makes one sit up and think twice, while Gorecki's "Totus Tuus" remains a simply ravishing meditation on the Virgin Mary. Works by Elgar and Delius round out the program. The accompanying notes by conductor Llewellyn announce that he hopes that the singers are "contributing to Peace on Earth" with this CD, and while that's quite a goal, what I can tell you is that the 65 minutes of music here is intensely calming and floats above and through the listener. A glorious CD which makes a great gift for a friend---or to yourself.--Robert Levine