Search - Bermstein, Copland, King's College Choir :: Chichester Psalms / In the Beginning

High hopes dashed

Bruce Hodges | New York, NY | 11/25/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I'm giving this three stars strictly on the basis of the repertoire, some of which is unusual and might not be readily available elsewhere - specifically the Schuman and Larsen works. But this is a very disappointing disc.I bought it primarily for the Copland "In the Beginning," an a capella choral classic, and am sorry to report that this is not a winning performance. (For a better one, go for Matthew Best and the Corydon Singers on Hyperion.) Throughout the Copland (and the rest of the CD, for that matter), the chorus sounds imbalanced; individual voices emerge from what should be a group sound. The voices aren't unpleasant, but they should blend together better, and there are a number of imprecise entrances, not to mention some intonation problems here and there (especially in the Ives). In addition, the recorded sound is not ideal; there is a bit of harshness that reminds me of some poor recordings in the early days of CD technology. This is a well-known choir and they have made much better recordings than this one. Unless you are specifically looking for *any* performance of the Larsen and Schuman, there are other versions of the Bernstein, Copland and Ives pieces that are much preferable."

Poor performance from a choir that used to be the best.

Bruce Hodges | 11/23/1998

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Gone is the sound of Willcocks. The new sound is strident and cold. I've tried buying a few recent King's College recordings and they are harsh sounding. I can't tell if it's the choir or the recording technique. Much better to try and find Willcock's performance on record of the Chichester Psalms - much better than this one."