Accentus : Transcriptions - Equilbey Laurence

Accentus : Transcriptions

Equilbey Laurence

Classics Today:  10/10

Eqilbey and her chamber group Accentus deserve nothing but praise for their mellifluous tone and ability to fan into a vocal forest.

Geoff Brown, The Times

01. Agnus Dei (Samuel Barber : Adagio Op.11) [Samuel Barber] [07:11.36]
02. Kein deutscher Himmel (Mahler: Adagietto, Symphonie n°5) [Gιrard Pesson] [09:08.64]
03. Immortal Bach (Bach: Komm, susser Tod - BWV478) [Knut Nystedt, Accentus] [06:30.34]
04. Lacrimosa (Chopin: Etude opus 10 n°6) [Franck Krawczyk] [03:56.61]
05. Soupir (Maurice Ravel) [Clytus Gottwald] [03:44.04]
06. Das verlassene Magdlein (Hugo Wolf) [Clytus Gottwald] [03:45.40]
07. Auf ein altes Bild (Hugo Wolf) [Clytus Gottwald] [02:28.52]
08. Die Nachtigall (Alban Berg) [Clytus Gottwald] [02:23.30]
09. Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen (Mahler) [Clytus Gottwald] [06:04.59]
10. Les Angelus (Debussy) [Clytus Gottwald] [02:27.22]
11. Lulajze, Jezuniu (Chopin: Largo, Sonate Op.58) [Franck Krawczyk] [04:39.23]

Gramophone music magazine : Editor's Choice : Marc Rochester

Stunning displays of choral technique and control make this a disc to savour

Samuel Barber wrote his Agnus Dei in 1967 following a suggestion that he turn the ever-popular Adagio for Strings into a choral work. Technically, then, it's not a real transcription, but that's not how Laurence Equilbey sees it. She goes all out to coax from her singers a powerful recreation of string playing, both through phrases which are shaped just as string-players would bow them and by making each entry imitate the actual effect of a bow as it first touches the string. It's a stunning display of choral technique and control, which serves merely as a taster for some extraordinarily accomplished singing.

Equilbey's back-to-roots approach is equally dramatic in Gιrard Pesson's ravishing choral arrangement of the Adagietto from Mahler's Fifth Symphony. There is a decidedly orchestral feel to this with, again, compellingly shaped phrasing of the long sustained lines and some seemingly effortless excursions into the stratosphere by the Accentus sopranos. Knut Nystedt's Immortal Bach, more original work than transcription, transforms the choir into a kind of other-worldly organ, sustaining unwavering pianissimo chords apparently for ever. For my money, though, the most rewarding items here are the two Chopin transcriptions, which both convey awareness of the music's pianistic origins while convincing completely as choral music: testament, certainly to Franck Krawczyk's sensitive transcriptions, but even more to the extraordinary vocal flexibility of Accentus and the perceptive musicianship of their conductor.

Only once does the music call for any unconventional effect "Clytus Gottwald incorporates some subtle whistling in his magical recreation of Ravel's Soupir" which makes Accentus's achievement in creating such an array of colours and tonal variety all the more astonishing. The absence of comprehensive booklet notes is the only drawback of an otherwise magnificent release.

ClassicsToday.com : David Hurwitz

Some discs are simply so beautiful that it's almost painful to talk about them when you could be listening instead. This is one. All of the pieces featured here were originally conceived as instrumental works (or songs for voice and accompaniment) but have been transcribed for unaccompanied chorus. Only Barber's famous Adagio for Strings was reworked by the composer himself, in this case as his equally lovely Agnus Dei. The others were the work of Clytus Gottwald, Gérard Pesson, Franck Krawczyk, and Knut Nystedt, and they are, one and all, marvelous.

Most alluring are the two Mahler pieces, the Adagietto from the Fifth Symphony and the song Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen. Both work extremely well through the medium of voices, but the latter's intensely beautiful harmonies make this setting especially poetic and a true rethinking of the piece. Accentus Chamber Choir's founder Laurence Equilibey conducts both with seamless elegance and a naturally flowing rubato that really makes the music come alive. Quite different if equally intoxicating is Ravel's Soupir. Taking his cue from Ligeti's Lux Aeterna, Clytus Gottwald creates a shimmering, sensual curtain of sound that's simply magical.

Franck Krawczyk's two Chopin transcriptions, the Etude Op. 10 No. 6 and the Largo from the Third Piano Sonata, sound so inevitably right that you'd hardly guess that they originated in piano solos. I could go on, but as I noted at the beginning of this review, why talk when you could (and should) be listening? Suffice it to say that the singing is simply the last word in unobtrusive virtuosity and sumptuous blending of tones, and the sonics capture the chorus in a warm but not overly resonant space. The concept may look odd, but trust me: one listen and you'll be playing this disc often. Start with the Mahler. If that doesn't grab you, then you're either tone deaf or simply dead.

audaud.com : John Sunier

OK, so perhaps all of these aren’t that familiar. This is the most interesting choral album I’ve heard in a very long time. I recall being stopped in my tracks hearing the choral setting of Barber’s Adagio for Strings on NPR for the first time. That’s what introduces this album, and all the other ten tracks are equally worthwhile. Many of the transcriptions are by Clytus Gottwald, who writes about them in a two-page part of the note booklet. (There are also translations of all the songs in both English and French.) He says choral music in the 20th century couldn’t keep pace with the tremendous developments in instrumental music, and was just sort of an appendage to it. He finds that only some a cappella music since WWII has shown us how the human voice may be “orchestrated.” One example is Ligeti, and his music such as “Lux aeterna” stimulated Gottwald to try his hand at transcribing Late Romantic instrumental music and even more modern music for chorus. His arrangement of the Alban Berg song about the Nightingale makes use of the same micropolyphony as favored by Legeti. In other of the selections different tricks are used in orchestrating the choral voices. The result is a fascinating variety of polyphony which often adds a mystical and mysterious feeling to the works, even to something as early as Bach’s chorale melody.

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