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Press
& Reviews
Singers rise to challenge of Rachmaninoff
Salisbury Singers mastered old Orthodox
Russian text and difficult a cappella music to
deliver a powerful and well-received performance
of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s The All-Night
Vigil (Vespers) on Nov.17, 2006. Salisbury
Singers aptly chose to set the music in the magnificent
St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Worcester.
Following the performance, Worcester Telegram
& Gazette reviewer John Zeugner wrote,
“The Salisbury Singers were technically
spot on; the solo work by tenor Richard Monroe
was fluid, powerful, convincing; the bass section
handled the No. 5 offering with accurate dynamics
and range.”
Perhaps Rachmaninoff’s greatest work, The
All-Night Vigil is a haunting and mystical
work from the Golden Age of Russian church choral
art. While in exile from his beloved Russia during
World War I, Rachmaninoff intended the composition
as a reflection on the power of liturgy to overcome
violence and political unrest, Zeugner explained.
He wrote, “The Singers provided technical
sheen, attention to detail, precision of balance,
section against section when called for….”
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