Respighi, Ottorino / Poulenc, Francis / R: Lauda Per La Nativita Del Signore

   in Choir & Organ (Jan, 2016)
The premise for what is in effect a rather unusual Christmas CD would seem to be the appropriation of existing material by later composers, whether that is music or text – or both. Sandstrom’s simply gorgeous, slow-motion riff on Praetorius’s Es ist ein Ros entsprungen shows off the beauty of the Rundfunkchor’s sound: well balanced, perfectly tuned and resonant. These qualities stand them in good stead elsewhere in the programme, notably in Lauridsen’s effective O magnum mysterium and Poulenc’s set of four Christmas motets. The major work on this too short disc is Respighi’s Lauda per la Nativita del Signore, whose slight instrumental resources suggest it might be taken up more …