Rachmaninov All-Night Vigil - Vespers

LSC enters the fray with a release of highly competitive value… a fine, balanced recording of no little emotional content… he (Simon Halsey) gives no quarter to some of the more famous names with hats already tossed in the ring…This one has a lot to offer
Audiophile Audition

The London Symphony Chorus, under Simon Halsey, show not only evidence of great familiarity with the performing and recorded tradition of the work in terms of pacing and rhetoric, but also an injection of peculiarly British choral timbre, which brings a welcome and different perspective

There were so many magical moments

If you are among the Rachmaninov enthusiasts who love the work, it’s hard to imagine it given a better reading than that delivered by Halsey and his LSO forces.

Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil is made up of 15 movements which form an all-night vigil service, celebrating the dawn of a new day. The London Symphony Chorus skilfully executed the technically difficult composition; the choir is divided into four voices (soprano, alto, tenor and bass) which are then often subdivided into two or even three parts. The bass ebbed and flowed like the unremitting cycle of waves on the beach, and the sopranos cut clearly over the top. The unrelenting power of the Russian chants were sensitively sung as all eyes are focussed on the conductor, who precisely directed the changes in dynamics of the composition.

The performance inspired an appreciation of the everlasting cycle of time with a cohesive theme bringing together the contemporary and the traditional. The London Symphony Chorus and conductor, Simon Halsey, expertly realised Rachmaninov’s technical composition with energy and passion.