Dmitri Hvorostovsky and the Saint Petersburg Chamber Choir
Last summer the very talented conductor Valery Gergiev, of Saint Petersburg’s Kirov Opera, brought his orchestra, chorus, and soloists to the Lincoln Center Festival in New York. After the final concert Philips Classics held a reception for the members of the Music Critics Association, whose annual meeting was built around the festival, and Gergiev was produced to answer questions. He stunned many when he said, “Things weren’t so bad in the Soviet Union. There were many things which were very, very good.”
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In the Russian Orthodox Church, instruments are not allowed, so all the music is entirely vocal–which at least means that it’s not troubled by the current shortage of organists. Unsurprisingly, this music is often reminiscent of that performed in traditional Jewish synagogues, which don’t allow instruments either.
He and the choir sounded best in the last three selections on the program, a trio of settings by Pavel Grigoryevich Chesnokov, and in the two encores–all of them performed in a heartfelt and moving fashion. Unfortunately, they didn’t sound as good as they might have in another setting; the acoustics at Orchestra Hall are simply too dry for this lush music, which needs ecclesiastical space to roll around in. Conductor Korniev has an idiosyncratic style, sometimes seeming to flail about aimlessly, but his choir was able to follow him without evident difficulty.
