Rachmaninov: All-Night Vigil, Op. 37

*****

This recording of Rachmaninov’s beautiful All-Night Vigil is the third by non-Russian choirs to come my way in less than a year. It’s good to report that the latest, from the Vasari Singers under Jeremy Backhouse, is every bit as excellent as we have come to expect from that stable. As far as this non-Russian speaker can tell, their command of the language is exemplary if perhaps lacking the last ounce of Russian authenticity, and their bass section is well stocked with singers who can plumb the depths (bottom B flats are required).

The Vasari Singers play to their strengths at every turn and are not fazed by Backhouse’s generally broad tempi. Of course, they don’t possess the rich sonority of an Orthodox Church choir but when they sing as well as this, it doesn’t really seem to matter. With fine soloists – Catherin Wyn-Rogers in superlative form – this is a recording to return to often. Financed by crowd-funding, it makes a splendid 60th birthday celebration for this choir’s founder-director, Jeremy Backhouse. David Bray’s excellent liner notes enhance the experience measurably.

Philip Reed
Choir & Organ

The Vasari Singers join an ever-expanding field with this new recording of a work that was once considered very exotic by most Western choirs. Competition is consequently intense but the Vasari acquit themselves very well indeed in this recording made to celebrate the 60th birthday of the conductor, Jeremy Backhouse.

They begin with the opening blessing, which is always much better than starting out of the blue with ‘Priidite poklonimsya’, and this is followed by a fine rendition of ‘Blagoslovi, dushe moya’ with Catherine Wyn-Rogers on outstanding form. Jeremy Backhouse is not afraid of relatively slow speeds – this section lasts a full five minutes – and this can pay dividends; but there is the corresponding challenge of maintaining the tension of the musical line, and this is not always entirely successfully achieved in the following ‘Blazhen muzh’. No such problems affect ‘Svete tikhi’ or ‘Nyne otpuschaeshi’, with its famous low bass B flats, however, and both benefit from the excellent solo contributions of Adam Tunnicliffe.

Other highlights include the ‘Shestopsalmie’, with its extraordinary contrasts of light and dark, the fiery ‘Khvalite imya Gospodne’ and ‘Voskresenie Khristovo videvshe’, and a very well-shaped Great Doxology, which builds up superbly. Pronunciation is very good, though Englishness does slip through from time to time. A bonus is the superb booklet, with full transliterations and translations, and thorough notes by David Bray.

Ivan Moody
Gramophone

It’s not long ago that I reviewed a very impressive recording of Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil by the American choir, Gloriae Dei Cantores, augmented by members of some other choirs. Now, to mark the sixtieth birthday of their conductor, Jeremy Backhouse, the British ensemble, Vasari Singers has recorded it.

The Vasari recording offers a very different listening experience to the Gloriae Dei Cantores disc for a couple of reasons. In the first place the Vasari line-up is smaller than the American choir: the British choir numbers 42 (15/9/8/10) while the American team has 75 singers (19/19/15/22). It will be noted, in particular, that the American bass line is significantly larger; not only that, it includes seven Octavists, those especially deep-toned basso profundo singers. If the Vasaris have any such singers in their ranks they’re not specified. In addition, the sound of the two recordings is very different The American choir is presented at something of a distance and in a resonant acoustic. In my review I commented that I had the sense that the choir was positioned in the sanctuary of the church and that I was listening from one of the front rows of pews. By contrast, the Vasari Singers are much closer to the listener; the sound is more “up-front”. Comparative listening suggests that the American recording is conceived as more of a liturgical experience whereas the British recording offers more of a concert hall perspective. There’s nothing wrong with that: David Bray reminds us in his notes that the premiere of the work was a concert performance.

This is a good point to mention Mr Bray’s notes in case they should be overlooked. The notes are very fine indeed. As well as discussing the music, movement by movement, David Bray outlines what happens during the Orthodox liturgy and at what point each movement of Rachmaninov’s work would be sung liturgically. In this way the listener is enabled to picture the music in context. So interesting and helpful did I find these notes that it set me thinking how fascinating it would be if someone were to produce a video of the All-Night Vigil being sung liturgically. Does such a video exist?

Jeremy Backhouse generally adopts a slightly less spacious approach to the music than does Peter Jermihov, who conducts the Gloriae Dei Cantores recording. Though I was mightily impressed – and moved – by Jermihov’s conception of the music I find Backhouse convincing too, albeit in different ways.

The Vasari performance gets off to an impressive start in ‘Come, let us worship’. (I will use the English titles of the movements.) True, the choral sound lacks the bass richness of Jermihov’s choir, though the Vasari basses still give a good account of themselves. The soprano line is more prominent in the Vasari performance of the work as a whole, as you’d expect given the dispositions of the two choirs, but the Vasari Singers are a well-balanced ensemble and the commitment of their singing shines through from the Vigil’s start to its finish. The tempo that Jeremy Backhouse adopts in this opening movement ensures that his performance has a spring in its step.

The Vasari recording has the luxury of Catherine Wyn-Rogers to sing the alto solo in ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul’. I greatly admire this fine singer and she doesn’t disappoint here, singing expressively and with full, round tone. She may not have the authentic timbre of a singer like Mariya Berezovska on the Jermihov recording but Miss Wyn-Rogers is not outshone. However, it has to be said that in the closing bars the soft, low basses in the Jermihov performance – they have to descend to a bottom C – definitely have more presence, and not, I think, simply because there are more of them.

The Vasasris have a guest tenor soloist too: the Canadian singer, Adam Tunnicliffe. The tenor line in the ‘Nunc dimittis’ is a taxing one. Tunnicliffe does well, singing ardently. However, for my taste he’s recorded much too closely and therefore his solo line is even more prominent than it should be. On the Jermihov recording the music is treated more expansively – to its benefit – and the solo tenor, Dmitry Ivanchenko is very impressive. I think it helps that he’s not as closely recorded but Ivanchenko seems much better equipped than Tunnicliffe when it comes to floating the line. At the end of the movement there’s the famous moment when the basses have to descend softly to a bottom B flat. The Vasari basses accomplish this well but Jermihov’s basses, Octavists and all, are in a different league Their B flat is soft, firm and utterly secure.

‘Rejoice, O Virgin’, another of the work’s most celebrated movements, is beautifully poised in the Vasari performance. The lines are expertly sustained and the climax is very well done. In the following movement, ‘Glory to God’ the bell-like chords for both sopranos and tenors really sound like chimes in the Vasari performance. Their delivery of ‘Praise the name of the Lord’ is exultant and strongly rhythmic while in the following movement, ‘Blessed art Thou, O Lord’ Backhouse gets highly impressive dynamic contrasts from his choir and near the end the ‘Alleluias’ seem to tumble over each other excitedly.

With the eleventh movement, the Magnificat, we experience the greatest contrast between Backhouse and Jermihov. The latter gives one of the most spacious accounts I have encountered, taking 10:24. Backhouse is significantly swifter, taking 7:45. I think both approaches are of a piece with the respective conductors’ views of the music as a whole: Jermihov is slow and prayerful while Backhouse invests the music with more vitality. The next movement, ‘Glory to God in the highest’ is the most complex and musically rich in the work. Rachmaninov here composed a real choral tour de force. The Vasari Singers negotiate the challenges of the movement very successfully.

They close their performance with an exciting and committed account of ‘To thee, victorious leader’. This is a short yet triumphant paean of praise and the Vasari Singers rise to the occasion.

Jeremy Backhouse comments in the booklet that the Vasari Singers, which he has conducted since its foundation nearly 40 years ago, have had the All-Night Vigil in their repertoire for quite some time. That shows in this performance which is accomplished and assured. It’s a fine way for the choir to celebrate their conductor’s sixtieth birthday.

John Quinn
MusicWeb International

A highly personal reading from conductor Jeremy Backhouse, emphasising flexibility of phrasing and beauty of tone.

Rachmaninov’s All-night vigil (Vespers) is a work which is rightly popular both with choristers and with audiences. Like many choirs, the Vasari Singers has been performing the work for quite a number of years and in part to celebrate Jeremy Backhouse’s 60th birthday, he and the choir have recorded the work to be released as the second disc on the choir’s Vasari Media label.

Though the work was premiered in the concert hall, Rachmaninov intended the All-night vigil as a liturgical work. Though richly orchestrated and more coherently symphonic than earlier settings of the Russian liturgy, Rachmaninov follows the limitations that liturgical performance entailed, with no use of instruments and a great deal of traditional chant. But the work is also a romantic attempt by Rachmaninov to get to grips with his Russian roots at a time of great turmoil (he would be forced to flee Russia for ever two years after the work’s premiere).

In the last 30 years there has developed a tradition of performance of the work by Western choirs, a tradition which has developed a lighter more flexible view of the work than some of the more classic Slav recordings. It isn’t just whether the choir’s second basses can manage to be adequately audible in the low notes, but the attitude to phrasing, clarity and general lightness of texture.

On this recording Jeremy Backhouse takes these considerations to the logical conclusion and gives us a highly personal reading which is shaped to his choir’s tone and timbre. From what I can judge, the choir’s Russian is excellent and sung with admirable clarity, but it is also recognisably a British choir. Backhouse likes to phrase intently, shaping the music considerably and pulling back on the tempo in many small ways. He takes his time over the slower movements, allowing the singers to linger, but pushes forward impulsively too. Throughout the choir follows, and gives a lively light clarity to the sound, phrasing is always flexible. And yet…

This feels very much like a performance, a concert work. Though the work is introduced by the chant for the Deacon and Priest (rather than with Rachmaninov’s choral ‘Amin’ response), and the booklet has a series of admirable descriptions of the service which can be followed as you listen, you would never mistake this for a liturgical performance. For me, the performance lacks an essential fervency. In this case, I would be happy to have a little more roughness of texture if it meant greater intensity too. Here Backhouse and his singers concentrate on sheer beauty and expressive flexibility.

They are well partnered by soloists Adam Tunnicliffe and Catherine Wyn-Rogers, both singing in a style which complements the whole.

This is a beautifully produced and thoughtful disc which will appeal to the choir’s many admirers as well as those looking for a highly finished account of the work.

Robert Hugill
Planet Hugill

British choirs tackle the All-Night Vigil at their peril.

The Russian language is as euphonious as Rachmaninov’s mellifluous choral writing, but a failure to master true pronunciation can seriously mar a performance. No such problems here; Jeremy Backhouse’s Vasari Singers have a first-rate language coach in Xenia de Berner.

They also count some impressive basses among their number who can reach the spectacular, subterranean depths so natural to their Russian counterparts. What they don’t have is the lush richness of an Orthodox choir – but then no British choir has. Instead, these clear, light voices shimmer – cleverly bringing all the colour and texture to the surface without the need for vocal heft.

Stephen Pritchard
The Guardian