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Site review by Polly Nomial July 10, 2007
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Performance: Sonics (MC): |
As the extensive and illuminating notes to this disc rightly point out, Gregorian Chant has become ever more popular in recent decades. Where it was once just a soundtrack to mediaeval scenes on the screen, appreciation of this as an art form in its own right as grown steadily over the years. The music that has been selected with care is centred around the Easter "mystery".
Apart from writing the notes, Alexander M. Schweitzer directs the Consortium Vocale Oslo in well paced, sensual but cleanly phrased performances. The solo contributions from Mario Guillermo Ojeda are heartfelt and they are blended well into the overall textures.
This is recorded at a high level compared with other discs (both from 2L and more widely) but with limited dynamic range employed in the singing, when compared to say Mahler's 2nd Symphony, this poses no musical problems. The balance in its own right is magnificent and presents a vivid impression of the Ringsaker Church.
Wonderfully relaxing after "a bad day at the office" or indeed for happier occasions!
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Copyright © 2007 John Broggio and SA-CD.net
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Site review by mwagner1962 April 8, 2007
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Performance: Sonics (S): |
How can I add to the already fabulous review here?? I got this sample from 2L and I cannot be more pleased.....what absolutely wonderful singing. Over the years I have heard some nicely recorded Gregorian chant disc's but sadly the singing was, ahh, not up to any sort of high standard that we have on this disc.
2L nows shares a space with a few other labels on a lofty pedestal in my book. Caro Mitis, Harmonia Mundi and Pentatone are now joined by 2L as a label whose engineering is nothing short of sublime. This SACD joins other excellent 2L releases
Spacious, clear, detailed, moving, warm and spiritual...it is all here!! I simply cannot offer more...do we need any more Gregorian Chant on SACD after this release??
HIGHLY recommended!!
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Copyright © 2007 Mark Wagner and SA-CD.net
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Review by Geohominid March 23, 2007 (12 of 12 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics (S/MC): / |
f your impression of Gregorian Chant is of pleasant, fashionably stress-busting strains echoing around vaulted mountain-top monasteries, this new production from 2L is for you. Consortium Vocale are a group of eight male singers under the direction of Alexander M Schweitzer, and are based in Oslo. They are members of the International Society for the Study of Gregorian Chant which researches the ancient manuscripts and the re-creation of performance practices through the millenia, which were largely lost during the Reformation when the thousand-year old oral traditions were violently disrupted. The tracks on the disc are taken from both the Proper and Ordinary of the services for Lent and Holy Week, culminating on Good Friday. An excellent short account of the history of plainchant, its notation and performance in English, German and Norwegian is included in the booklet. This stresses the importance of the vibrant poetry of the texts, mostly from the Psalms - reflections of a struggling, aspiring, emergent Nation - to the purpose and interpretation of the chants.
The earliest written sources for the chants did not indicate exact pitch and rhythm, but were graphics indicating the music's flow in relation to the Latin speech rhythms, and were based on the conductor's hand gestures which shaped the phrases to aid the singers' memories. As a Catholic pupil in a De La Salle Brother's school, I was taught to read these signs or 'neumes', and took part in their singing at various school ceremonies, particularly the Founder's Day Mass. Thereby I developed a love of and appreciation for Gregorian Chant which is still firm in my atheistic later years. To hear the Consortium Vocale's performances takes me back to familiar sounds, illuminated now by the latest scholarship on performance practise. It has been a deeply moving and uplifting experience.
Gregorian Chant consists of modal melodies which either carry a story, matching the Latin text syllable for syllable, or pause for meditation or worship on single key words, a vowel of which is elaborated in a moving arch of notes - the 'melismatic' style (from the Latin for honey). Alternatively, a single vowel may be sung in a rapid repetition at the same pitch, which excites echoes from the acoustic in a remarkable way; this is known as 'repercussion'. You can hear a stunning example of melisma in the ecstatic Sanctus on Track 13 after the soloist's part, and an example of repercussion on Track 6. All together, in the hands of skilled singers such as the Consortium, the chants are highly dynamic and emotional, full of tension and relaxation points, not the bloodless congregational interpretations so common these days. Adding to the sense of movement and varying the texture, a soloist is often used to move the story on (the excellent voice of Mario Guillermo Ojeda on this SA-CD), merging into a choral unison which soars with great emotion to the heavens. All the singers here show great awareness of each other (the concentration involved in singing the chants is one of its prime intentions) and their voices blend seamlessly. The sound is very different to that of larger groups who are used to singing the chants as part of their daily worship. I noted with approval that the pronunciation follows what Catholics often call 'Church Latin', with the soft "c" sounds which are so essential for the true melismatic style. But this is not about the technicalities of performing Gregorian Chant, but of a remarkable musical experience married to a fully realistic recording. Try the Kyrie eleison on Track 8 - melodies of sublime beauty which take wing and soar aloft into the reverberant space as soloist and choir alternate. Electro-encephalography has shown that the chants are extremely effective in stimulating the brain's alpha-waves, which probably explains their current stress-busting popularity, but as this disc shows, they are much more than that.
The recording itself is fully a partner in capturing these performances. It was made in a 12th Century church in the small country town of Ringsaker, north of Oslo. Producer Morten Lindberg and his engineers have captured the ideally warm, responsive acoustic of this building in their multi-channel track. The choir are in front of us, just far enough away to hear their soft intakes of breath if one's listening room is quiet. The sound-field allows all the detail to come through, but adds its own distinctive contribution to the music. I was amazed by the silence surrounding the building: even with my subwoofer on, I could not detect any disturbing traffic rumble in the 5.0 track (my amp always puts the LF into the sub channel). The recording, editing and mixing were carried out in the exciting new DXD realm (Digital Xtreme Definition) before quantization down to DSD. As far as I can tell, it represents state of the art, in MC, Stereo and CD formats.
Finally, I really enjoyed the packaging - a neat gate-fold holder plus booklet as now standard for 2L. The text giving a context for the music is extremely helpful, the layout very well-designed and illustrated with superb colour photographs of illuminated Gregorian manuscripts (some of which you can see in the Vatican Museum at St Peter's).
There is very little Gregorian Chant available on SA-CD, but this new 2L release would be an important addition even in the red-book CD market. Welcome indeed, for this reviewer! More than mere stress-busting; a deeply moving musical experience with consummate engineering.
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