Rachmaninov: Vespers - All Night Vigil

Along with the choral music of Orlando Gibbons, Rachmaninoff's "Vespers/All Night Vigil" is my favorite choral music in all of classical music. Paul Hillier and Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir do an outstanding job with this music. They sound smooth, polished and retain a sense of feeling for the Russian sprit of the material. Rachmaninoff's "Vespers/All Night Vigil" is a powerful and soothing musical offering that reflects a feeling of hope in the midst of sorrow, as well as, a sense of power, glory and peace of God, that is part and parcel of the Christian ideal and the Russian Orthodox variety of Christian worship.

This is an amazing recording of Rachmaninov's choral work. I have The Robert Shaw Chorale recoring as well, and they are as different as chalk and cheese (I like both). The Shaw treatment is ethereal, otherworldly and gorgeous. The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Chorale's approach is electrifying and powerful. The EPCC recording captures the movement of the different voices in the ensemble, whereas in the Robert Shaw version, the blending of the parts results in a sweet, rich timbre. EPCC varies the rhythms and attack so one can hear the beauty and passion inherent in the language. The Robert shaw version draws out each phrase and seems to focus on each note in the piece. I have listened to this SACD countless times and it always gives me joy.

Having reviewed several recordings of this work in careful meditation, I too find this work to be among the best; it has now found favor as my personal favorite. I have had Robert Shaw's recording for some time, but I find this to be a much better recording in terms of audio quality, being much more recent, but I also find the interpretation to be much more dynamic which really grabs your emotion into a deep meaningful understanding of the fullness of this sacred music and the very presence of God. It is truly a testament to the glory of the Eastern Orthodox Church, the bride of Christ, His Church, His Body. It is very hard to keep a dry eye, impossible in fact. In comparison, others like Nikolai Korniev's St. Petersburg Chamber Choir, like Shaw's, are older recordings. Korniev is closer to this interpretation, and is to the purist, a true Russian choir, but does not match the recording quality here. I also prefer the female vocalist Iris Oja here (alto solo featured on track 2, "Praise the Lord, O my soul"), and find her voice much easier to listen to, being less harsh, tempered and more beautiful than other alto soloists. Concerning Shaw, personally I do not care for a French choir performing Russian works, while Estonian is the language of Estonia, the Russian language is very much a part of the culture and history of Estonia and therefore bodes high in terms of purity for me. The 1965 Alexander Sveshnikov recording, while perhaps, is the purest for those who prefer this, all round, Hillier's is absolutely my favorite, and I will cherish this disc as long as I am able, God willing. God Bless His one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church (aka, The Eastern Orthodox [Catholic] Church)! Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory Forever!

The job performed by Paul Hiller is both stunning and excellent! The Estonian Phillarmonic Choir from my own perception is unique in this recording especially because it has within its basses Vladimir Miller whom I myself admire and does great job in the bass section but lets not forget the other voices, the alto soloist was wonderfull when I first heard it. Her control and sound was excellent and the tenor well he is good but I didn't like his solo as much as I liked the solo that Konstantin Ognevoy made in the Vespers recording of 1965 but but above all this he made a good job. I have listen to most recordings of the All Night Vigil, the version under Alexander Sveshnikov with the State Russian Choir(1965), under Valery Polianski with Ministry of Culture Chamber Choir(1986, you can here a young but still resonant Yuri Wichniakov), Robert Shaw Festival Singers version and this one are by far my favorite recordings of this well speechless work. If happen to buy this recording do not hesitate and share it. As the last reviewer said. Listen to it so you can be more close to soul of the world!

I heard a recording of Vespers on my local classical radio station. Loved it...it was by the Robert Shaw. Then I read Amazon reviews of three different recordings; this recording was the most highly rated. Reviewers were right, thank you amazon, the recording is fabulous. Perhaps it is due to a musical tradition of harmony in Estonia and that area, but it is a better recording, imo.

On this disk you'll find what is --- in my opinion --- the best version of Rachmaninoff's Vespers. The choir is precise in timing and in harmony, and the music brings harmony to the listener in an especially powerful way. Thank you!

Harmonies are completely beautiful and the music overall just soars. A few of the cuts are less awe-inspiring than others, but overall I found Rachmaninov's "Vespers" gorgeous and the vocal performances on this recording to be outstanding.

I appreciate the excellent quality of the performance, recording, and production of this high-quality CD made with Austrian perfection.

Sublime. I am bowled away. Everything I wanted in this piece.

L'opera è interpretata splendidamente, ma la cosa più sorprendente è la registrazione: decisamente la migliore registrazione di cori mai ascoltata su CD/SACD/ file HD !

I absolutely love it it is beautiful and uplifting

エストニアの合唱団というのを見て、確かにエストニアは合唱大国ではあるが、教会スラヴ語によるロシア正教の聖歌集でもあるラフマニノフのこの作品をロシア語圏以外の合唱団が演奏するのは困難であろうと思っていた。 しかしＳＡＣＤでもあることから、一聴の価値はあるであろうと購入、再生してみたところ、いきなり聴きなれない男声による深々とした朗詠が流れた。このディスクはこの作品は正教の奉神礼（ミサ）にこの作品が使用されるものということを前提として録音されていたのである。そのため曲間に所々このように朗詠が入る。これをこの作品の本来有るべき姿と取るか、音楽鑑賞上で邪魔で煩わしいと取るかで好き好きが分かれるかもしれない。（ちなみに私は前者である。） 演奏はスヴェシニコフ盤に準ずるほどの厚みがある。しかし同時に透明感も兼ねそろえている。厚いが透明という一見相反するような表現であるが、完璧なアンサンブルがそれを可能にしていると思われる。 演奏とならんで、録音も抜群であり、オーディオフェスタでこのディスクがデモンストレーションに使用されていたくらいである。私が最高に評価しているスヴェシニコフ盤が録音が古いため、それと比較すると、録音の優秀さを考慮に入れれば、甲乙つけがたい存在である。 最高のお勧めとしたい。

Musik und Chor Benötigen keine weitere Erklärung, da Weltklasse. Allerdings muss ich den Händler „Antikhandel“ hervorheben. So eine seriöse Verpackung habe ich noch nie für eine CD gesehen und erhalten! Herzlichen Dank dafür. Der Versand war sehr schnell und auch dafür vielen Dank. Kann ich zu 100% empfehlen.