Some discs are simply so beautiful that it’s almost painful to talk about them when you could be listening instead. This is one. All of the pieces featured here were originally conceived as instrumental works (or songs for voice and accompaniment) but have been transcribed for unaccompanied chorus. Only Barber’s famous Adagio for Strings was reworked by the composer himself, in this case as his equally lovely Agnus Dei. The others were the work of Clytus Gottwald, Gérard Pesson, Franck Krawczyk, and Knut Nystedt, and they are, one and all, marvelous.
Most alluring are the two Mahler pieces, the Adagietto from the Fifth Symphony and the song Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen. Both work extremely well through the medium of voices, but the latter’s intensely beautiful harmonies make this setting especially poetic and a true rethinking of the piece. Accentus Chamber Choir’s founder Laurence Equilibey conducts both with seamless elegance and a naturally flowing rubato that really makes the music come alive. Quite different if equally intoxicating is Ravel’s Soupir. Taking his cue from Ligeti’s Lux Aeterna, Clytus Gottwald creates a shimmering, sensual curtain of sound that’s simply magical.
Franck Krawczyk’s two Chopin transcriptions, the Etude Op. 10 No. 6 and the Largo from the Third Piano Sonata, sound so inevitably right that you’d hardly guess that they originated in piano solos. I could go on, but as I noted at the beginning of this review, why talk when you could (and should) be listening? Suffice it to say that the singing is simply the last word in unobtrusive virtuosity and sumptuous blending of tones, and the sonics capture the chorus in a warm but not overly resonant space. The concept may look odd, but trust me: one listen and you’ll be playing this disc often. Start with the Mahler. If that doesn’t grab you, then you’re either tone deaf or simply dead.
