Cappella Romana - All-Night Vigil - SUPER-AUDIO CD [Super Audio CD (SACD)]

There are so many unbelievably gorgeous songs out there that in the beginning I found myself unable to decide which songs to record. But, once I decided this album would be intimate, honest with just piano and voice the decision of the choice became clear. Here it is. I am so proud of it and hope you enjoy listening to it. It is important for me to acknowledge and thank some very dear people who surrounded me with love, patience and support throughout the making of this album. Frank Kimbrough for his sensitive piano accompaniment in the studio. Jay Clayton for her love, wisdom, experience and incredible musicianship. What a beautiful songbird she is! Sheila Jordan for her love, strength, guidance and sense of humor. Nobody does it better. Connie Crothers for her openness which helped open new musical doors for me. Ann Jaimes for her invaluable friendship throughout the years, monster ears, uncompromising standards and whose musical arrangement of Lazy Afternoon helped shape my approach to that song. Justine Parsons for her creative force which throughout my life has kept me on my toes. Philipp Haemmerle for his generosity and being there when it counted. My family for their love.

Ondine brings US the of Rachmaninov's All-Night Vigil follows several earlier releases featuring the acclaimed Latvian Radio Choir under it's Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Sigvards Kava. Inspired by the words, music and atmosphere of Russian Orthodox worship, Rachmaninov created with his Liturgy of St John Chrysostom (ODE 1151-5) and his All-Night Vigil two supreme examples of choral writing but also music of uplifting spiritual strength. As instruments are being proscribed by Church law, the All-Night Vigil is composed for unaccompanied voices but Rachmaninov created a work of such richness that could be described as Inchchoral orchestrationInch. Featuring the Latvian Radio Choir, who Gramophone praised as an outstanding body of singers.Inch

Dr. Tikey Zes (b. 1927) is the most prolific composer of Greek Orthodox liturgical music in America. This highly original Liturgy, which Zes dedicated to Cappella Romana, bears the marks of a composer long engaged with the traditions of Orthodox worship. Cumulatively opulent in it's variety, level of musical difficulty, and ecstatic polyphonic climaxes, this Liturgy achieves a balance of splendor with restraint that is, in an inculturated and dignified musical idiom, thoroughly Byzantine. Vocal ensemble Cappella Romana combines passion with scholarship in it's exploration of early and contemporary music of the Christian East and West. It's name refers to the medieval Greek concept of the Roman oikoumene (inhabited world), which embraced Rome and Western Europe as well as the Byzantine Empire of Constantinople (InchNew RomeInch) and it's Slavic Commonwealth.