Stravinsky: Mass / Cantata – Choir Of St Mary’s Cathedral

   in Choir & Organ (Nov, 2016)
This is St Mary’s Cathedral Choir’s fifth disc for Delphian, following their widely admired recordings of Taverner, Sheppard, Bruckner and Gabriel Jackson. It is Jackson, who enjoys a long association with the choir, who provides the excellent liner notes for the CD, which are an essential accompaniment to understanding and enjoying Ferguson’s well- chosen programme. Stravinsky’s Mass (1944-47) is the composer’s most substantial liturgical work. Its exquisite beauty references (even if the composer denied it) Palestrina and medieval music. It here receives one of the finest readings I’ve experienced. The choir sounds fresh and lively, thoroughly relishing Stravinsky’s angular vocal writing, while the SCO Soloists are no less engaged. Ferguson finds …