Brahms: Mass & Motets

   in Choir & Organ (Jan, 2015)
Peter Dijkstra is a charismatic young conductor who has already amassed a wealth of experience with choirs all over Europe. He’s a perfect match for the Swedish Radio Choir, whose natural precision and delicacy of detail can tip into stiltedness without a strong director out front. Dijkstra has long been absorbed in Brahms’s sacred music, convinced that the key to it lies in maintaining what he calls a ‘lively and personal’ choral sound, preserving the individuality of voices, rather than blending all into a romantic mush. He succeeds admirably here, and a vivid recording retains vocal detail both in the motets and even while delivering the truncated sweep of the op. …