The string orchestra supports them extremely well and Ethan Sperry evidences great understanding of the score. The Portland choir does very well also – the four singers who form the crucial semi-chorus deserve special praise. If Hannah Consenz doesn’t quite match the achievement of Miss Sampson, hers is still a very fine performance. She sings very well and with great commitment. I understand that 22-year-old Hannah Consenz was a member of the Portland State Chamber Choir at the time of this recording. Stephen Layton had the luxury of a big-name soloist, Carolyn Sampson, whose performance is very special indeed, revisiting the disc now I’ve come to esteem her performance all the more. (One point that Ethan Sperry doesn’t make in his excellent booklet note but which Gabriel Jackson includes in his notes for the Hyperion disc is that Ešenvalds has a very strong Christian faith: that comes out in this piece.) There’s a demanding role for a solo soprano in Passion and Resurrection. As I’ve said, Ešenvalds compiled the libretto himself and I think he was just as successful in that task as he was in writing the music: the libretto is a perceptive and profound work of synthesis. The music, which is often powerful yet always accessible, is marvellous and very moving. And, as the title suggests, Ešenvalds doesn’t conclude with the entombment of Christ but carries the story on to take in his Resurrection from the tomb. Cast in four sections, which play without a break, it’s not so much a conventional re-telling of the Passion story but, rather, a piece in which the libretto, knit together from a variety of sources by the composer, includes elements of Gospel narration but also comments and meditates on the Passion story. Passion and Resurrection is scored for soprano solo, a semi-chorus, SATB choir and a small string orchestra. The work impressed me greatly then, as did the performance, so I’m delighted to have the opportunity to hear another version. By chance, the first such disc to come my way was the CD by Stephen Layton and Polyphony that included what was, I think, the first recording of Passion and Resurrection ( review). I’ve reviewed three all-Ešenvalds CDs over the last few years and I’ve come to admire his music very much. I believe that Sperry and the choir have committed some individual works by Ēriks Ešenvalds to disc before but now they have devoted an entire CD to his music and have become, apparently, the first American choir so to do. Their conductor, Ethan Sperry, is the director of choral activities at PSU. Currently 40 singers are listed on their website. From their website I've learned that this is a student choir, founded in 1975, whose members study at Portland State University (PSU). 2016, St Stephen’s Catholic Church, Portland, OregonĪlthough this isn’t their first recording, I don’t believe I’ve heard the Portland State Chamber Choir before. Portland State Chamber Choir / Ethan Sperry Portland State University String Ensemble Support us financially by purchasing this from
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