Landmark recordings of Rachmaninoff's Vigil?

[Mandryka]

I listened to Jermihov last night and thought "It's been too long, this is fabulous music."

In the past I used to enjoy Sveshnikov but honestly Jermihov is so good I don't know if it's really recommendable any more.

Has anyone explored the music on record? Are there any (other) special (quirky, unique etc) ones worth seeking out?

[Clemens non Papa]

Not sure if it's idiomatic enough, but Robert Shaw's recording sounds like near-perfect music-making to me.

[Cato]

Try The Saint Petersburg Choir with Nikolai Korniev conducting:

(unfortunately spread over 33 screens, but they should appear automatically)

https://www.amazon.com/Rachmaninov-Vespers-RACHMANINOV/dp/B000096FUM

[Mandryka]

One thing I've come to see since starting this thread a few days ago is that this music suffers badly if there's too much  acoustic reverberation - it flattens everything.

One recording I've found which doesn't have from this problemis Simon Pierre Bestion, La Tempête on Alpha - what it doesn't have is those amazing low Russian bases and those lovely round Russian vowels! But from the point of view of texture it was an eye opener for me.

While typing this I started to listen to Josef Pancik and the Prague Chamber Choir - good sound - baltic vowels.

[Atriod]

One of my favorite pieces. For a desert island performance it is Charles Bruffy. I had an exchange about this performance with a Russian on another board and I believe he didn't care for it because of the American singers and their pronunciation/diction of the Russian texts. But since I can't speak the language this nuance is lost on me. For me the larger forces really hit the spot.

I would not want to be without these either which are my other favorite performances - Paul Hillier, Sigvards Klava, and Peter Jermihov. Bizarrely all four of my favorite performances are SACDs.

One thing I've come to see since starting this thread a few days ago is that this music suffers badly if there's too much  acoustic reverberation - it flattens everything.

One recording I've found which doesn't have from this problemis Simon Pierre Bestion, La Tempête on Alpha - what it doesn't have is those amazing low Russian bases and those lovely round Russian vowels! But from the point of view of texture it was an eye opener for me.

While typing this I started to listen to Josef Pancik and the Prague Chamber Choir - good sound - baltic vowels.

What do you think of the amount of acoustic reverberation in Klava's recording? It is one of the best albums I have heard that lights up the acoustic space but still sounds completely natural on my system.

4vbcmc