Elena Ruehr : Averno

   in Choir & Organ (Jul, 2013)
Averno is a cantata based on the myth of Demeter and Persephone using the poems of Louise Gluck. It is the longest work on the disc and the material is stretched to its limits. Elena Ruehr’s writing is rhythmic but repetitive and has a slightly eastern feel to it, and her use of the instruments is colourful and imaginative. The recording is not well balanced, the two very good professional soloists dominating while the instrumentalists often disappear into the background. Trinity Wall Street is a very competent church choir and copes well with everything that is asked of it. The very rhythmic Gospel Cha-Cha owes nothing to Latin America but is …