A nice collection of male
choral
works spanning the range from vaguely religious works (the choir appears to be sponsored in part by the Orthodox Church) to various odes and paeans to Russia. Mixed in are a few songs of folk origin as well. There are five to ten singers at any given time, and they are certainly skilled in their art. At the same time, soft poetry doesn't lend itself so well to the male choir. Some of the religious and historic chants work well in the format, but at the same time there are works that simply fail somewhat. The choir format leaves the emotion flat, which makes the songs doubly impenetrable if one doesn't speak Russian. For the church hymns, the album isn't too bad, but one should pick it up only if looking for the church end of affairs. ~ Adam Greenberg