Unfortunately, this recording suffers from such poor sound that it can’t be recommended in spite of its compelling and underrecorded repertoire. Each performing component–chorus, orchestra, organ–sounds as if recorded in a compartment separate from the others. The result is one of the more unnatural-sounding productions you’re likely to hear from a modern recording. Even alone, as in sections of Patrick Hadley’s beautiful My beloved spake, the chorus is confined, almost muffled, never allowed to bloom in the most full-voiced sections. The strings sound as if devoid of overtones; they don’t resonate but rather mumble. The detachment of orchestra from chorus is especially problematic in works such as George Dyson’s Hierusalem whose changing mix of solo vocal, unaccompanied and accompanied choral, and full orchestral passages requires a consistent sonic perspective to avoid total aural confusion. John Rutter’s Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace is another unfortunate example of this constricted and conflicted acoustic, and all along we’re given tantalizing evidence that, given higher production values, this could have been a very respectable recording.
The singing, exemplified in works such as Rutter’s brief a cappella, eight-part A Choral Amen (which here receives its premiere recorded presentation) shows both accomplishment and promise. However, balances tend to be strained in the loudest passages and soprano Hannah Garner’s unsteady, at times harsh, non-blending quality detracts from her duet with tenor Jonathan English in Rutter’s O how amiable are thy dwellings. The repertoire includes not only a hefty dose of Rutter–some of his better works, only one of them, The Lord bless you and keep you, overly familiar–but also a totally neglected near-masterpiece from Frank Bridge, the 18-minute-long A Prayer, heard here for the first time in a setting for strings and organ, and Gerald Finzi’s powerful Magnificat, also heard in a world-premiere arrangement for strings. Well, it was a good idea–well-chosen repertoire in need of attention, supported by sincere, competent performances. Too bad it wasn’t fully realized; but recordings are about sound, and this one just doesn’t measure up.
