Russian Divine Liturgy / Father Mitrofan

$19.99
Label
Naxos
Release Date
February 1, 2001
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      VARIOUS
    • ORCHESTRA / ENSEMBLE
      Novospassky Monastery Choir
    • PERFORMER
      Igumen, Mitrofan
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      February 01, 2001
    • UPC
      636943415023
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      8554150
    • LABEL
      Naxos
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Early Music / Chant
    Works ⌄

    1. Meeting And vesting Of Bishop

      Composer: Alexey Fyodorovich Lvov

      Ensemble: Novospassky Monastery Choir

      Conductor: Igumen Mitrofan

    2. Eis polla eti, Despota

      Composer: Alexey Fyodorovich Lvov

      Ensemble: Novospassky Monastery Choir

      Conductor: Igumen Mitrofan

    3. Great Litany

      Composer: Alexey Fyodorovich Lvov

      Ensemble: Novospassky Monastery Choir

      Conductor: Igumen Mitrofan

    4. Bless the Lord, o My Soul

      Composer: Alexey Fyodorovich Lvov

      Ensemble: Novospassky Monastery Choir

      Conductor: Igumen Mitrofan

    5. The only begotten Son

      Composer: Alexey Fyodorovich Lvov

      Ensemble: Novospassky Monastery Choir

      Conductor: Igumen Mitrofan

    6. Come, let us worship and fall down before Christ

      Composer: Alexey Fyodorovich Lvov

      Ensemble: Novospassky Monastery Choir

      Conductor: Igumen Mitrofan

    7. The Trisagion

      Composer: Alexey Fyodorovich Lvov

      Ensemble: Novospassky Monastery Choir

      Conductor: Igumen Mitrofan

    8. Prokeimenon

      Composer: Alexey Fyodorovich Lvov

      Ensemble: Novospassky Monastery Choir

      Conductor: Igumen Mitrofan

    9. Alleluia

      Composer: Alexey Fyodorovich Lvov

      Ensemble: Novospassky Monastery Choir

      Conductor: Igumen Mitrofan

    10. Cherubic Hymn

      Composer: Alexey Fyodorovich Lvov

      Ensemble: Novospassky Monastery Choir

      Conductor: Igumen Mitrofan

    11. The Nicene Creed

      Composer: Alexey Fyodorovich Lvov

      Ensemble: Novospassky Monastery Choir

      Conductor: Igumen Mitrofan

    12. A Mercy Of Peace

      Composer: Alexey Fyodorovich Lvov

      Ensemble: Novospassky Monastery Choir

      Conductor: Igumen Mitrofan

    13. The Hymn to the Theotokos

      Composer: Alexey Fyodorovich Lvov

      Ensemble: Novospassky Monastery Choir

      Conductor: Igumen Mitrofan

    14. Praise the Lord from the Heavens!

      Composer: Alexey Fyodorovich Lvov

      Ensemble: Novospassky Monastery Choir

      Conductor: Igumen Mitrofan

    15. Psalm CXX

      Composer: Alexey Fyodorovich Lvov

      Ensemble: Novospassky Monastery Choir

      Conductor: Igumen Mitrofan

    16. Blessed by the name of the Lord, henceforth and for ever more

      Composer: Alexey Fyodorovich Lvov

      Ensemble: Novospassky Monastery Choir

      Conductor: Igumen Mitrofan

    17. Great Doxology

      Composer: Apostol Nikolayev-Strumsky

      Ensemble: Novospassky Monastery Choir

      Conductor: Igumen Mitrofan


This is a repertoire that's been surprisingly well represented on disc, benefiting from the glasnost/perestroika-inspired revival of liturgical music in Russia in the early 1980s and the coincidental CD-fueled resurgence of the classical recording industry. One of the beauties of the unique, harmonized chant forms that characterize Russian church music is the attention this music received from some of the country's finest composers, some of them well known--Grechaninov, Bortnyansky, Glazunov, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov--and others more obscure but nevertheless highly skilled. Most of the composers represented here are among the latter category, but the music is first rate and the choir, from Moscow's historic Novospassky Monastery, is equal to the best on disc. It's also a plus that most of the selections, by Lvov, Arkhangelsky, Smolensky, Kastalsky, and others, aren't duplicated elsewhere. The program follows a service of the Divine Liturgy, which includes hymns, antiphons, the Great Litany, the Trisagion, Nicene Creed, a psalm, and the Doxology. I was pleasantly surprised by the exceptional quality of the singing, set in shimmering, vibrant sound made in a Moscow studio but with the kind of (artificial?) resonance that could just as well have come from the wood and stone environs of an ancient church. There are many excellent choices for recordings of Russian religious music, but if you want to hear what the real thing sounds like, you won't go wrong with this--and its budget price makes it especially attractive. --David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com