Customer Reviews

Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna, etc. / Salamunovich, Los Angeles Master Chorale

5 star:		(84)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This anthology of choral works by Morten Lauridsen, an American composer bearing more than a superficial similarity to such Baltic composers as Arvo Pärt, Henryk Górecki and Einojuhani Rautavaara (and why should he not, with the name Lauridsen so suggestive of Baltic roots?), as well as Johannes Brahms, is a comforting spiritual journey into the magical world of choral music. As far as I know, with one notable exception, all of these works receive their recording premieres on this well-filled album. The sole exception is Lauridsen's "O Magnum Mysterium" (Oh, Great Mystery), which is also included on Robert Shaw's final, posthumous, release by the same name on the Telarc label.

This release might well have gone unnoticed by me had it not been brought to my attention by a cyberfriend at the New York Times Classical Music Forum, who, knowing my affection for Shaw and his work, thought that I would like it. How right he was!

It is more than fitting that the names Lauridsen and Shaw be juxtaposed with respect to this album. The performers are the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the successor to the Roger Wagner Chorale, the one and only choral group which, over its lifetime, was able to serve any notice that Shaw had competition in this field (although Shaw continued to remain paramount, regardless). And the music Lauridsen has provided for this release, of course including "O Magnum Mysterium," is of the type and of a quality that Shaw very much made his own in his late-career work with the Robert Shaw Festival Singers and Chamber Singers.

But the credit should go, not to Shaw, but clearly to Lauridsen and to Paul Salamunovich, the current music director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, for this selection and outstanding performance of Lauridsen's works. Basically conservative in their compositional make-up, these works fall easily on the ears, and suffuse the listener with a feeling of immense grace and warmth, much as Brahms' "Ein Deutsches Requiem" (referenced in the liner notes as a measure of what Lauridsen sought to accomplish) does.

The clear highlight of the album is the title work, "Lux Aeterna." Spiritual, cosmic, romantic and moving beyond measure are adjectives which fall readily to hand when describing its effect. By itself, it is reason enough to acquire this album, and it is the work which most obviously pays tribute to Brahms. But "Les Chansons Des Roses" and "Mid-Winter Songs," while different in their styles and impact, are equally accessible and well-done. As for "O Magnum Mysterium," I find the choice between Salamunovich and the Los Angeles Master Chorale on the one hand and Robert Shaw and his Chamber Singers on the other to be a toss-up. Given my high personal regard for the life and work of Shaw, this is just about the highest praise I could heap on Maestro Salamunovich and his singers.

Five easy stars for this anthology of a composer who now has an outstanding cross-section of his choral works for us to hear, and to a choral group that performs as well as any, including Shaw's groups, on this release.

Bob Zeidler

Being a choral singer myself, and having heard Paul Salamunovich's choirs in person, I was certainly anxious to hear this recording. Having now owned it for nearly a year, I don't think I've EVER played a CD more times than this one--a one-of-a-kind disc and an absolute must-have for all choral music aficionados.

Under Paul's direction, the Chorale's spirited ensemble singing transforms Lauridsen's compositions into sound paintings of transcendent beauty--truly a match made in heaven!

With this recording, the Los Angeles Master Chorale has unquestionably arrived at the pinnacle of contemporary choral performance. Thank you, Morten, Paul and LAMC--we anticipate an encore!

I am a mere ordinary listener. I have no special skills nor training with which to judge this musical offering. I only know that once I was blind, but now I see. Lauridsen's music was performed so beautifully and sensitively on this CD that it took my breath away. What a masterpiece of compostion! It made me think of the painter Turner painting, well, light. My favorite composition on this recording is Lux Aeterna, the title piece. It is transportingly beautiful, and does with music what the poet Dante did with words: takes one to the sublime realms of light, to the habitation of--dare I say it--God. A profoundly moving experience. I owe all my good words to Mr Lauridsen for composing such a work and to Mr Salamunovich and the Los Angeles Master Chorale for their glorious singing of it! Bravo and Hallelujah!

So much of what we read, hear, tune in, pass by seems to be sighing an elegy for that perfect place of mind that for lack of better term we call MYSTERY. Well, search no further, fellow frayed souls. This work "Lux Aeterna" may be deemed simplistic, minimalistist fluff by some cold hearted critics, but I would urge those listeners yearning to seek contemplation to put this little treasure of a disc on your machine and release to a spiritual flight. This is a beautifully performed and recorded choral masterwork of the 20th Century. If it is popular (as is Gorecki's Symphony No. 3) then I think the hope for the future is more positive than the outside signals would indicate.

When I heard this on KUSC I nearly drove off the 405 trying to write the title in dust on the dashboard. In one sense a fatal crash wouldn't have mattered; music in heaven will sound just like this.

The Lux Eterna CD transports you into another world. The music is touching, healing and gives a sense of hope. It breaks you down first, and then reconstructs you. It is like the German Requiem, a master piece from Brahms. Those who have heard the German Requiem will agree that Lauridsen is our modern Brahms.

Although a professional singer who has sung an immense amount of the choral literature, I have not sung any Morten Lauridsen. My loss! Lux Aeterna is a tremendous addition to the literature. In a wonderful use of instrumental and vocal color, Lauridsen speaks in a harmonic language which is lyrical, yet not trite and worn. He is superb at setting text sensitively. His harmonic language is of our time, yet seems modal and ancient. The L.A. Master Chorale has a full, warm sound which can handle the softest phrases and yet soars in the big sections. I understood the text because of their excellent diction. Terrific playing by the orchestra, and wonderful balance of instruments and voices.

Robert Shaw and Roger Wagner [ God rest their souls ] must rest assured that the Choral art is in such hands.

It is a blessing that the talents of Paul and Morten are available to us in the twenty first century.

BRAVO ! AD MULTOS ANNOS!

Wow. This music is fantastic, and is still leaving me with chills. Mr. Lauridsen deserves much praise for these gorgeous pieces presented on this CD. I won't go into details about him, seeing as there have been many informed people who have spoken about him already. Requiems, masses, and large works such as the Lux Aeterna are always a welcome guest into my musical listening as I believe anyone would feel after listening to this ethereal and enchanting music. I become so engrossed in this piece that words almost don't even enter my mind while I'm hearing every succession of gorgeous note after gorgeous note. So the fact that the singers in the Los Angeles Master Chorale have somewhat blurry diction turns out not to really even matter to a person such as myself who is a stickler for diction. "Les Chansons des Roses" is another work which is smaller in feeling, but just as moving as the "Lux Aeterna," and with a charming French text (which I could understand perfectly fine diction wise, although I happen to know the language very well, which makes a big difference). I especially love the movement, "Dirait-on." What can one say, but "Ahhhhhhhhhh." The "Coplandesque" feeling one gets from the "Mid-Winter Songs" is very nice, and they are charming pieces. A wonderful closer to the CD is a piece I became acquainted with in High School, and was fortunate enough to perform... the "O magnum mysterium." A nice move by the editors in my mind, as I have a special affinity for the piece and it sums up how I musically feel about this composer(I've never had a more spine-tingling feeling in my life than I did when we performed this piece. I remember... it was amazing).

Overall, this CD is a real keeper for any lover of choral music. This is the most lyrical, enthralling music for choir that has been constructed in ages it seems like. I feel fortunate to have been able to sing in one of the pieces myself, and I am hoping I can convince, maybe with the aid of this CD, to get my Choir Director to let us sing a piece from one of these works at our "Cathedral Concert" next year. I would be elated for us to perform any one of the selections from this CD at any time. I hope everyone who gets this enjoys it as much as me and countless others do... It's a dedication to neo-romanticism and a veritably pallatable choral treat.

Morten Lauridsen's stunningly ethereal musical ideas are marvelously performed in the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion by the Los Angeles Masterworks Chorale. The recording was perportedly created using 20 bit recording technology to capture the inner details.

This RCM recording is unfocused, however. The soundstage gives no indication of where the singers or the orchestra are located. Additionally, the dynamics of the recording are unreal, getting way too loud to sound like a live LAMC at the DCP in the loudest passages. I chalk this up to RCM using the very inefficient and incoherent ATC SCM50 studio monitors (or perhaps a tin ear?) in the mastering process. Extreme care has to be applied to ensure that all of the depth of the soundstage is preserved for a recording of this nature. Unfortuantely I hear little such care.

It's also interesting to note that RCM touts the use of 20 bit recording, but doesn't provide this disk with HDCD encoding to preserve the 20 bits for those with HDCD decoders. It has been my experience that HDCD encoded disks do a better job of preserving a soundstage, with or without an HDCD decoder. And, the bit reduction activity (from a recorded 20 bits to a playback 16 bits) may help explain the overly dynamic nature of this recording.

John Rutter's Requiem (Reference Recording's HDCD-encoded RR-57) shows us what care in preserving a soundstage can sound like. While Requiem isn't necessarily better music than Lux Aeterna, it does provide an incomparably better listening experience.

Still, if you want fabulous background music and aren't picky about the presentation (indeed I find that I prefer to listen to the disk on my computer speakers, which aren't especially coherent, anyway, and, because of their low efficiency, do a good job of compressing this over-dynamic presentation) Lux Aeterna is a great buy.

Mr. Lauridsen and LAMC my heartfelt thanks. RCM what happened?