The Advent Live recordings of the Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge, represent fresh takes on Christmas-season programming. This is the second of a pair, with both drawn from live services in the College chapel and quite well recorded there. Listeners might choose either or both, and the men-and-boys of the choir deliver energetic performances both times. Those performances are far from the chaste norm of English collegiate and cathedral choirs, and in some of the monophonic pieces, the choristers are positively ...
Read More
The Advent Live recordings of the Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge, represent fresh takes on Christmas-season programming. This is the second of a pair, with both drawn from live services in the College chapel and quite well recorded there. Listeners might choose either or both, and the men-and-boys of the choir deliver energetic performances both times. Those performances are far from the chaste norm of English collegiate and cathedral choirs, and in some of the monophonic pieces, the choristers are positively muscular. The distinctive quality extends in spades to the program, where there is not a trace of merrie olde England in sight or within shouting distance. This is the forte of director Andrew Nethsingha, who has done much to expand the repertory of choirs close to the heart of the English tradition. He offers an often unexpected sequence of pieces, from traditional monophonic melodies to late Romantic and modern pieces from England and Germany, along with surprises like a lovely selection...
Read Less
