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Sergei Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil, better known as Vespers, is a marriage of devotional choral spirituality, neo-Medievalism influenced by Russian Orthodox chant, and austere late-Romanticism that swings far away from the plushly swollen piano and orchestral music that he was most famous for in his day. When Robert Shaw’s recording came out on Telarc in the 90’s, there weren’t many recordings readily available of the Vigil in the US, so I can understand most mentioning that recording as their go-to. But now we are inundated by a wide variety of choral styles and cultural influences in this music on record, a wealth of riches and diversity for those who love this music.This Harmonia Mundi SACD is sung by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir (EPCC), a group of 30 led by Paul Hillier, a long-time choral expert who I know more for his early devotion to Renaissance choral music through the Hilliard Ensemble and Theatre of Voices in the 80’s and 90’s, although his recordings have since branched out to modern choral repertoire.The EPCC sing Rachmaninov’s 54-minute Vigil beautifully and Harmonia Mundi captures them close enough to have immediacy and rhythmic impact in their Estonian Dome Cathedral without getting lost in its acoustic, an unfortunate by-product of too many recordings of the Vigil that become a distant, swimmy slog; not so here. Neither are they so close to the microphones that they sound like a small vocal jazz group either; I think their placement is near-upon ideal. One of the highlights of this particular recording are the excellent selection of soloists that are neither flung in the distance, nor are they overly wobbly, yet still sounding fairly idiomatic. The chant incipits sung by basso profundo Vladimir Miller at the opening of four of the movements is a pleasant addition too, not always found on other recordings.Hillier is also not particularly interested in floaty lusciousness for its own sake and atmosphere; he moves this music along pretty confidently, responding to the variety of Rachmaninov’s written tempo changes with purpose. Hillier also imbues the EPCC with thoughtful text gradations; listen to the choral opening of the 1st movement ‘Priidite’ and how the choir subtly shades that word for syllable emphasis - this is well thought-out singing that I so rarely hear on other recordings.As noted at the top, there is an embarrassment of riches as far as recordings available of this work. I prefer the Baltic choirs that barter the difference between the hearty sound of Russian choirs, the massed symphonic output of American choirs, and the smoothly transparent, pale quality of European chamber recordings. This recording of Hillier and the Estonians stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the Latvian Radio Choir on Ondine, as well as the MDR Radio Choir on Genuin that employs Latvian basses to its German chorus. Hillier is the more purposeful of the three in tempo, but each are to my particular liking, although I like the Estonian’s soloists by a long stretch.Of course to really hear this music, go to the Russians with their more incisive attacks, larger vibrato, not-so-precise ensemble work, but thrilling, singular sound world: Sveshnikov on Melodiya, Chernushenko on Harmonia Mundi, and Korniev on Decca fit the bill. I will admit, I never cared for the Polyansky on Alto nor Rostropovich in Washington. Sveshnikov, though, is a classic, but the Chernushenko might be the better realized and performed, but really hard to find.If you like the large-numbered symphonic choirs, that is where Robert Shaw on Telarc, Simon Halsey with the LSO, and Charles Bruffy on Chandos come in. These tend to be slower and wallow in their acoustic, the Bruffy at 75 minutes being the worst instigator of this glacial approach, but the LSO has surprisingly quality.The Europeans tend to eschew vibrato for a stark style, with Matthew Best on Hyperion in a pure English chorister style, and Tenebrae on Signum in small dainty numbers for a very transparent sound. I tend towards the recordings of the SWR on Hänssler, the Netherlands CC on BIS, or the Swedish Radio Choir on Virgin for fine choral leading and a ruddier sound.The Baltic choirs broker between these styles towards my personal tastes, and I like Hillier’s more direct leading of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, who sound lovely on Harmonia Mundi’s SACD. This review is for the original recording, now reissued here. My suggestion is to try Amazon’s audio samples and see what suits your personal preferences. For me, this recording comes Highly Recommended!
