COMPOSERS: Gorecki
LABELS: Elektra Nonesuch
WORKS: Miserere; Amen; Euntes ibant; Wislo moja, Wislo szara; Szeroka woda
PERFORMER: Chicago Symphony Chorus, Chicago Lyric Opera Chorus/John Nelson; Lira Chamber Chorus/Lucy Ding
CATALOGUE NO: 7559-79348-2 DDD
A 32-minute crescendo of mournful chant-like music makes a punishing start to this disc, which aims to show the breadth of Górecki’s choral repertoire. But those who survive the Miserere’s far from ‘heavenly length’ are rewarded with the more striking Amen and Euntes ibant. The Lira Chamber Chorus, concluding the disc with tranquil Polish folksong settings, achieves a limpidity and expression that the combined Chicago choruses do not. Janet Banks
Gorecki: Miserere; Amen; Euntes ibant; Wislo moja, Wislo szara; Szeroka woda
A 32-minute crescendo of mournful chant-like music makes a punishing start to this disc, which aims to show the breadth of Górecki’s choral repertoire. But those who survive the Miserere’s far from ‘heavenly length’ are rewarded with the more striking Amen and Euntes ibant. The Lira Chamber Chorus, concluding the disc with tranquil Polish folksong settings, achieves a limpidity and expression that the combined Chicago choruses do not. Janet Banks
Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:13 pm