Fire of the Soul

Loved the music on this CD so much that I actually purchased it based on listening to it whilst streaming from ClassicalMPR on my iPad. Sadly, however the poor audio recording quality of this CD was mercilessly revealed on my home audio system. It absolutely destroyed my enjoyment of this great choral masterpiece. The sound is thin, grainy and distorted, most notably on the female voices. The male bass voices are rendered so thinly, that they are very nearly MIA. This CD is essentially unlistenable now. Heartbreaking....

There is not a good balance in this CD. I usually love the Rose Ensemble. But on this recording the soprano is not blending with the group. All I can hear is this loud soprano. I really can’t listen to it. Sorry.

I won't claim to know much about Russian choral music to know if the style is authentic or not. What I do know is what great choral music sounds like -- and this is it. Their phrasing, pitch, blending of sound, and they way they move together as an ensemble (as opposed to a collection of really good singers singing together) is absolutely marvelous!

bought a while ago and have not listen to in a while, but remember it was good. Nothing like good russian male singers!

Beautiful voices, outstanding arrangements, instantly enjoyable! Each piece is exquisitely performed, and the final selection, by Sergey Khvoshchinsky, is near perfection. In comparison to other recordings of choral music, this one is among the very best.

The Hail Mary (cut number eleven) is the single most beautiful thing I've ever heard. I break down in tears when I listen to it.

I really enjoyed this streaming so much that I purchased the CD. It's absolutely horrible. It's like too much gain was used was used to record it. Also, and I don't get this... it's loaded with chips, scratches and skips... like it was recorded from an old, poorly maintained vinyl record. While there are so many disadvantages to purchasing the streaming version of this, avoid purchasing the CD. I hate copying music without purchasing it but there ought to be a law against selling this as a CD quality product.. it simply is very poor quality. Please avoid this product. I am going to try to return this item for a refund.

Oh dear. This is an interesting attempt, but the English chamber choir approach does NOT work with Slavic church music. The basses are too polite, the baritones too clear, the tenors too swan-like, the altos too modest, the sopranos too bright. The different sections have varying success with the Church Slavonic/Russian "oo" vowel -- none of them produces it far back in the mouth enough to be convincing. After ten seconds of listening to this, and finding it intriguing to hear the different parts of the pieces articulated more specifically than a real Russian or Slavic choir would do, I lost interest and just found it sad and thin. Like hearing the Mormon Tabernacle Choir do Negro spirituals. If you want to hear more precision in this kind of music -- if real Russian choirs are too "heavy" for you -- try the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir. At least they get the spirit and pronunciation right.