New York Classical Review: Clarion Choir soars in spiritual rarity to open Rachmaninoff 150 year
New York Classical Review
By David Wright
It seems likely that, when the Sergei Rachmaninoff sesquicentennial year of 2023 has run its course, we will find that (with apologies to Joni Mitchell), we looked at Rachmaninoff from both sides now, and we really didn’t know Rachmaninoff at all.
Clarion Choir, jumping the gun by a few hours on New Year’s Eve, introduced a Rachmaninoff relatively few people know with an uplifting performance of his work for unaccompanied chorus, Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, in the visually splendid sanctuary of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral on East 74th Street. (A repeat performance New Year’s Day will usher in the celebratory year.)
Was the composer of these static, endlessly-circling choral harmonies really the same person who set the standard for rugged athleticism at the piano? Could the composer who inspired a thousand Hollywood love scenes also liberate one’s spirit from corporeal existence?
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