Customer Reviews

Russian Medieval Chant

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This disk is a must for every lover of male Russian choirs! Don't get confused by the name of the choir (I assume it is based on Greek deisis `prayer') or the commercial design of the booklet: this is simply the very best of Russian choral chant that has been published this season. The fourteen singers of the choir perform ancient chants, that have partly been deciphered here for the first time, and so are absolutely unique. Because of the high quality of singing and the choice of repertoire, Deisus can be compared with leading choirs such as the famous Patriarchate Choir of Mr.Grindenko. The chants performed on this splendid disk, all in honour of the Virgin Mary, are either homophonic or polyphonic, in a pleasant alternation. They share the quality of monastic austerity that makes them absolutely captivating: the listener is transposed to another world, a world of quiet and piece. Warmly recommended!

A perfect portal into the sound world of medieval Russia, this selection of liturgical material, drawn from a tradition harking back to the 11th century, includes unadorned monophonic chant as well as ceremonial pieces in polyphonic styles developed in the 16th and 17th centuries, the sonorities of the former occasionally creating enjoyably spooky, ringing overtones in the generous acoustic. The men of Deisus sing with an almost visceral depth of commitment and, as might be expected, the low basses are profoundly in a class of their own.

Anyone who hasn't heard Russian chants performed by deep voices has a real delight ahead and a profound musical experience. This recording captivates from beginning to end. The voices of the Deisus Choir, singing heretofore unpublished chants, took this listener onto a soundscape he didn't know existed. The choir emerges like the breath of God and rolls on in a vibrant acoustic that's perfectly suited to the voices, which resonate as much in the solar plexus as in the ear. I've collected a good number of recordings of chants (including the best-selling disc of the Spanish monks that came out some years ago), but the present recording by the Deisus Choir is now at the top of my list.

This is one of those CDs that you want to sit back and relax too. So moving and so soothing to the soul, body and mind.

I spent years studying and performing the church music of The West.

The Latin influence in virtually all of those great compositions became second nature to my ears.

When I discovered Eastern Orthodoxy and Orthodox Christian Chant, it was as if someone had scraped away 10 centuries of paint layers from an old building, revealing something quite simple yet very profound.

There is no doubt that this CD is very well produced.

However, the very title gives it away as--at best--a distortion of the Russian Chant which was born of Moscow's mother, Constantinople.

The term "medieval" is a western and Latin term, as is "Deisus".

The political and social ramifications of monarchies in the rationalistic Latin West were of a totally different paradigm than that of the mystical, logical Greek East.

Give this as a gift to someone who is not well schooled in music, and they will likely enjoy it simply for the good production.

Give this to a Russian and you will greatly embarrass yourself.