Rachmaninov: Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, Op. 31

“Normally you’d run a mile from music recorded in the reverberant acoustics of a cathedral. But not in this case...the music – reverent, restrained and slow-moving –suits this fine performance in Riga’s Dome Cathedral.” The Telegraph, 23rd April 2010 ***

“Impeccable, their sense of timing just right—leisurely, tender and reverential … a worthy follow-up to its admirable Vespers” BBC Music Magazine

“As good as we have learned to expect from Matthew Best’s Corydon Singers, and Best does the music itself proud” CD Review

An endlessly fascinating disc, this. Rachmaninov’s Liturgy – in a deeply atmospheric rendition by the Flemish Radio Choir – plunges you right into the heart of an ancient Russian church tradition. It breaths devotion, mystique and faint menace. It’s one of those seldom-recorded works that not only grabs the interest; it’s actually extremely hard to stop listening to it. - Gramophone Magazine

“Rachmaninov's Liturgy is less well known than his Vigil ('Vespers'), but has nevertheless gained in popularity with western choirs as a concert item in recent years, though the double-choir setting of the Lord's Prayer has always enjoyed a certain renown, often being sung in an English paraphrase. It is far more than a mere sketch for the more famous work, too, though the links are clear – anyone hearing the opening psalm, 'Blagoslovi, dushe moya', for the first time will immediately make the connection.
The Flemish Radio Choir's rendition is very fine indeed, reverent, well paced and at the same time electrically atmospheric (and also including sufficient of the celebrant's petitions that it comes across neither as an artificial celebration nor a concert suite) and the magnificent SACD sound is just what such a riveting performance merits. The only criticism is of their very light 'l' sound, which truly gives them away as non-Russians.
There is strong competition but, curiously, none is Russian; indeed, the King's College recording is as unrepentantly and beautifully English as you could wish for. In an ideal world one would have to have all of them, and if you have room on your shelves for one more, do add this new recording to your collection. There is one aspect in which the other three score, however – they include full texts and translations, while for the new disc they must be downloaded.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010