The third episode of Icons in Sound showcases a CD that came out just before Pascha in 2007 -- Russian composer Alexandre Gretchaninoff's Passion Week, as recorded on the Chandos label by the Kansas City Chorale and the Phoenix Bach Choir, under the direction of Charles Bruffy. This superb recording of was nominated for five Grammy awards, including Best Classical Album and Best Choral Performance, and it ended up winning one Grammy for Best Engineered Classical Album. The CD got absolutely glowing reviews in a number of magazines and periodicals, which gave wide exposure to Orthodox church music in a positive light.

Direct File Link or listen below.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Certain circumstances make this particular recording quite dear to my heart. I had occasion to work with as a consultant with the Kansas City Chorale and its enormously talented conductor, Charles Bruffy, in the mid-1990s, when they recorded Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. Here was a major American choral conductor with a serious interest in the music of the Orthodox Church. Ever since the success of that project, Charles would ask me from time to time, “What else is there in the Orthodox choral repertoire that we should perform and record?’ So a few years ago I gave him the score of Gretchaninoff’s Passion Week which our publishing company, Musica Russica had published. After “living with the score” for a while, as conductors will often do, Charles decided to program the Passion Week, first in concerts in Phoenix and Kansas City, and then as a recording project.

Both the CD and the musical score of Alexandre Gretchaninoff’s Passion Week are available from www.musicarussica.com.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Name

Email

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment Preview