Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998)
Three Sacred Hymns (1984)
Concerto for Choir (1984-1985)
Yekaterinburg Philharmonic Choir / Andrei Petrenko
rec. 2025, Grand Hall of Sverdlovsk Philharmonic, Yekaterinburg, Russia
Fuga Libera FUG865 [50]
Alfred Schnittke’s avant-garde style can be divisive amongst listeners, but this programme of choral music need hold no fears for anyone who, for instance, has a soft spot for Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil. The Three Sacred Hymns take their texts from well-known Christian prayers and, as Elena Krivonogova’s booklet notes tell us, “this short cycle can be termed as a part of the tradition of Russian Orthodox music”. Both this and the Concerto for Choir come from the same period in Schnittke’s output, and both turn to tonality with romantic turns of phrase and some movingly scrunchy harmonic effects and intense climaxes, but nothing that should scare the neighbours or even the cat.
Andrei Petrenko is a distinguished choral conductor and has been artistic director of the Yekaterinburg Philharmonic Choir since 2015 so we can rest assured that we are in safe hands. He describes the Concerto for Choir as “a unique choral canvas that blends musical layers of great profundity… It is an embodiment of spirituality…” His choir has quite a dark, burnished sound that suits this music very well indeed. The acoustic in which they are recorded is more concert-hall than cathedral, and while the choir is rich and full and the voices are beautifully captured the general atmosphere is a bit dryer than this music would seem to demand. While this isn’t a huge qualitative point, it has to be said that other recordings benefit from more generous resonance.
This release is in direct competition with the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir conducted by Kaspars Putniņš on the BIS label (review), in a programme that also includes Arvo Pärt’s Seven Magnificat-Antiphons. These voices always sound stunning in the vast acoustic of Tallinn’s Niguliste church and this recording is hard to beat and would be my main recommendation for these works. Timings in most movements are comparable though the order taken for the Three Sacred Hymns differs, with Our Father as its opening track. The third movement of the Concerto for Choir has a more driving tempo in Estonia and is a few minutes shorter compared to the more expansive view from Yekaterinburg. There are other recordings around, such as the very fine Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks conducted by Peter Dijkstra on BR Klassik (review), and the BIS label competes with itself with another excellent recording of the Concerto for Choir with the Swedish Radio Choir conducted by Tõnu Kaljuste (BIS-CD-1157), which somehow balances atmosphere and clarity with impeccable precision.
No texts or translations are given in the booklet for this release, though as far as I can tell the same Russian translation from Grigor Narekatsi’s text is used in all of these recordings for the Concerto for Choir. If you are looking for these powerfully moving works in a recording made with the rich character of authentic Russian voices then this CD is well worth acquiring, though maximum spine-tingling spirituality can be found elsewhere.
Dominy Clements
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