I've got a trio of budget bargains for you this time round, all from Naxos:
January: Janocek Glagolitic Mass Warsaw Phil. / Antonio Wit. Up there with the best recordings of this choral masterpiece, so if you haven't already got a recording of this work go out and buy this one now.
February: Pott In the heart of things Commotio / Matthew Berry. Local choir Commotio strut their a capella stuff with a selection of works by contemporary (and relatively local) composer Francis Pott. Sublimely and spiritually luminous but not in a faffy way.
March: Brahms Choral works (incl. Ave Maria, Begrabnisgesang, Schicksalslied etc.) Warsaw Phil. / Antonio Wit (again). Mr. Wit was obviously having a highly productive period in the recording studios recently. This recording covers virtually all of Brahms' worthwhile choral work ouside of his German Requiem, and it's another cracker.
So, after saving you loads of dosh with those three bargains I reckon you're allowed to slip another recording into your shopping basket. Also featuring in the February edition of Gramaphone magazine was Tuur's Arkamine with the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir / Sinfonietta Riga / Daniel Reuss on Ondine. You should know by now that Baltic music generally hits all of the right buttons for me, and the EPCC are one of my favourite choirs, so I could hardly pass this one by. Lots of moments of sublime beauty with plenty of bite inbetween.
More recordings worth having a listen to in three months time, just before I trundle off to Mongolia for a holiday. Perhaps I'll find some interesting vocal music out there on the steppes. You never know.
