Rachmaninov’s 1915
All Night Vigil comes from one of the
composer’s most creative periods, a
time that also saw the creation of the
second and third piano concertos. Since
its first performance, it has been recognized
as one of the great works of choral
music composed in the twentieth century.
It has held a special and deeply emotional
place in the hearts of Russian Orthodox
worshippers and choir lovers all over
the world. The Vigil is truly a monument
to the genre.
Alas, it is hard to
imagine how a group of singers so close
to the sea could have so completely
missed the boat in this performance.
I have often contended that opera choruses
do not good choirs make, and this recording
is all the evidence I need to bear out
my theory. Eric-Olof Söderström
leads a wobbly group of wannabe opera
stars in a perfectly sloppy and misinterpreted
rendition of a great work. Naxos seldom
makes tragic errors, but this one is
a blemish on an otherwise beautiful
face.
I am uncertain as to
which edition of the score Söderström
uses, but there are some inconsistencies
here with any other version that I have
heard. First of all, he eliminates the
AMEN that brackets the opening chorus
(Come, let us worship) and the second
(Bless the Lord, O my soul). These moments
of repose are sublime and I believe
absolutely essential to an effective
performance.
As the choir lurches
into the first number, we are bombarded
with a lack of ensemble, a questionable
choice of tempo and articulation and
no sense of any stylistic considerations
inherent to Russian singing other than
that this music is loud. There is no
blend to the choir, and the intonation
waivers in and out at an annoying frequency.
Throughout, Söderström misses
opportunity after opportunity to move
the listener by blowing through pianissimo
passages like a freight train, ignoring
poignant rubati and failing to build
phrases from a solid starting point
to a glorious climax. This performance
comes off as utilitarian as a book report.
Erja Wimeri’s voice
is unstable and there is nowhere near
enough depth and power in her voice
to effectively pull off one of the lowest
and most difficult contralto solos in
the repertoire. We are left hoping for
her to be able to make it to the end,
nervous that she will blow a vocal fold
in the process.
Tenor Soloist Eugen
Antoni is considerably better, with
a warm and rich tone and clear articulation
that is pleasant indeed. He is the sole
saving grace of this otherwise abysmal
performance. Raissa Palmu is fine, but
I am at a loss as to why she is there,
as there are no soprano solos in the
work, and what she sings is evidently
an interpolation that I have never heard
any other choir make.
Naxos waited for three
years to bring this one out, and were
I on the editorial board there, I would
have left it in the can. This is a performance
that cannot come close to comparing
to the superb readings by Tornu Kaljuiste
and the Swedish Radio Choir, The Robert
Shaw Festival Singers or Valery Polyanski’s
slow but sublime reading with the former
USSR Ministry of Culture Chamber Choir.
What a shame it is
that so sublime a work could not have
received better treatment from so worthy
a company as Naxos. Pull this one and
do it again. Your public deserves better.
Kevin Sutton
see also
review by John Phillips
Raissa Palmu, soprano 
