Records: Harmonic And Sistine Choirs

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30636, 30 December 1964, Page 6

Records: Harmonic And Sistine Choirs

HYMNS AND CAROLS: Choir of the Christchurch Harmonic Society conducted by William R. Hawkey. Sixteen tracks. Kiwi LC.IS (12in, 39s 6d), mono only. There should be wide interest in this disc because the Harmonic Society is providing a choir to represent New Zealand at the Commonwealth Arts Festival in London. It contains nine carols and seven popular hymns, all unaccompanied, as typical of the choiir’s regular work. The singing is vigorous and smoothly flowffllg, supple in rhythm and fairly precise in phrasing. There isn’t an item that isn’t eloquently handled, and any blemishes are minor. The choice of carols is particularly commendable because it avoids the wellflogged favourites that appear on nearly every professional Christmas record and are piped through stores during the shopping rush. Purchasers will probably find the carols worth learning for future Christmases if they do not know them. A reservation must be made about a point which detracts from the pleasure of the singing—the acoustic is too cramped for a big choir, especially in the hymns where the closely moulded body of

sound occasionally becomes beefy. This reviewer suspects the tapes were made for ordinary broadcasts and the use of them for the record was an afterthought. The N.Z.B.C. and Kiwi Records should have shown better judgment. When the time comes for the choir to go to the festival another record should be made, one that represents the choir—and New Zealand singing—at its best.

SISTINE CHOIR: Selections from the sound tracks of "Christ Is Born” and "Christ is Risen." Ten tracks. World Record Club stereo ZMW.2014 12in, 26s 6d), also mono.

This is singing of a very different temperament. The disc contains both Christmas and Easter music, including Gregorian chants, plainsong and polyphonic motets by Palestrina (three), Vittoria, Morales and Bartolucci. The Sistine Choir, which may not have previously appeared oh record, sails into the music in a very fiery style. Its glory is the rich and sumptous tone of the men, beside which the soprano sound is rather undernourished. Apart from the elaborate setting of “Adele fidelis” the singing is unaccompanied and is appropriately set in a spacious acoustic.