This release is among a group of 10 recordings being reissued by Carus, under the name “Carus Classics”, to mark the label’s 40th anniversary. The titles reflect a wide range of the Carus catalog’s choral music repertoire and ensembles, including the Mozart Vespers with the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir; Schubert’s Mass in G with the Vienna Chamber Choir; Brahms’ Liebeslieder-Walzer with the Köln Chamber Choir; Reger’s Es waren zwei Königskinder with the Dresden Chamber Choir, etc. This disc, originally released in 1992 and performed by the (unfortunately) now-disbanded Collegium Vocale Limburg, is a first-rate program of 19th-century choral music for male-voice choir.
You will rarely hear a richer, more pleasingly sonorous or warmly resonant men’s ensemble sound—and the repertoire, beginning with Joseph Rheinberger’s gorgeous Mass in B-flat Op. 172 (has a more affecting Agnus Dei ever been written?) shows these singers in full command of music that truly defines the description in the disc’s title: “romantic”. Yes, these are all sacred works, but in these settings there is not a trace of the heavily penitential, “churchy” tone that characterizes, that weighs down, say, the sacred music of Liszt from the same period. This is music that celebrates the sheer beauty of combined male voices, with the most heartfelt melody, the most unashamedly sumptuous harmony, while moving the listener in a direction that can only be described as other-worldly, where the spirit is touched and the musical ear is delighted. You think you’re not a fan of male-choir music? Try this and be converted.
