{"product_id":"mdr-rundfunkchor_bortnianski-schnittke-confessions-of-faith-concertos-pour-choeur_2017","title":"Bortnianski, Schnittke : Confessions of Faith, Concertos pour chœur","description":"Confronting the theme and title of the Credo (Glaubensbekenntnis), of belief and confession, the baroque composer Dimitri Bortnianski (1751-1825) and the post-modern Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998) is an excellent idea. Risto Joos, the director of the Leipzig Radio Choir, has chosen an Hymn and two of Bortnianski's Sacred Concertos (from the thirty cataloged by Tchaikovsky in the complete edition) and the Concerto for Choir (1984), an emblematic work of Schnittke. Bortnianski, who learned counterpoint and polyphony in Italy under Galuppi, later wrote Italian and then French operas for the audience in Saint Petersburg, replacing Paisiello at the court of Catherine II, and then became chapel master, serving the Orthodox Church. He composed around a hundred liturgical works, cantatas, hymns, and concertos. These works often require large forces. They have the particularity of borrowing from the baroque vocabulary (sustained counterpoint, separate choirs in the style of Gabrielli) but also from the Orthodox liturgical canon. They are thus effectively illustrative in the manner of icons and easily accessible to the faithful. Berlioz highlights their qualities in his journal: \"A rare experience of vocal masses, prodigious understanding of nuances, harmony, and freedom in the arrangement of the parts.\" The Concerto for Choir is an atypical work of Schnittke's \"polystylistic\" aesthetic (drawing fragments from works of the past, from Bach to Berg, including Schubert and Mahler, to stitch them together or even merge them in the style of literary cut-up (Burroughs) or cinematic montage, with the sources being more or less identifiable). The four movements of the Concerto (based on the Book of Lamentations by the Armenian mystic Grigor of Narek, 10th century) testify to a surrender, a sincere faith, and a regained serenity. Risto Joos rightly approaches the two universes with a single, broad, and unifying gesture, even merging the sections into the compact mass of the otherwise excellent choir. He prioritizes empathy and fervor in the singing in accordance with the text and tradition while smoothing out the few dissonances that punctuate Schnittke's score. More than a confession (the participation of the soloists is minimized): a communion. (Jérôme Angouillant)","brand":"MDR Rundfunkchor","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57950926438744,"sku":null,"price":23717312.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0898\/4943\/0360\/files\/4260036254501.jpg?v=1786574019","url":"https:\/\/vinyles.com\/en-us\/products\/mdr-rundfunkchor_bortnianski-schnittke-confessions-of-faith-concertos-pour-choeur_2017","provider":"Vinyles.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}