As the title makes clear, this is a collection of music
for Easter, and as such suffers almost inevitably from lack of variety
in a way a collection of Christmas music rarely does. The Manchester
Cathedral Choir puts up a very good showing, but compared to the best
choirs, even those with a strong youth element, certain weaknesses are
apparent. Intonation is excellent, ensemble too, with a commendable
unanimity of attack. But the overall sound is rather pale, individual
voices sometimes stand out, and the trebles are not always as refined
as one might wish, especially in the higher reaches. The group’s strengths
and weaknesses can readily be heard in their reading of Lotti’s famous
piece, which is given with organ accompaniment. The singing is very
well in place, but the whole lacks character and there is relatively
little of the work’s passion.
This is an important issue, however, because it makes
available to a wider public the 
name
– and the voice – of Emily Gray who, as a sticker on the box proclaims,
won the BBC Radio 2 Choirgirl of the Year competition in 2000.[photo
credit BBC2] On her showing here the award was thoroughly deserved:
hers is a voice of great beauty, very pure with impeccable intonation
and excellent diction. She sings with intelligence and communicates
well. Who could ask for more? Well, there is a certain sameness about
her delivery, but that would be difficult to avoid in this repertoire.
It would be very interesting to hear her in a more varied programme.
The first item gives a good idea of what is to come,
with Mendelssohn’s motet Hear my Prayer, including the famous
solo O for the wings of a dove, well sung, in English, but rather
detached in feeling. Vaughan Williams’ exquisite short anthem O Taste
and See follows. Unusually the tiny organ introduction is used for
this otherwise unaccompanied piece, very much a point in favour of this
performance, though the trebles struggle to match their soloist’s purity
when they take over from her after her initial solo. A simple piece
by Peter Hurford features some most beautifully sensitive singing which
makes one impatient to hear the piece again in spite of the slightness
of its musical content.
Other highlights include one of the celebrated cellist
Pablo Casals’ excursions into composition, an anthem for children’s
voices by John Ireland and some extracts from Pergolesi’s Stabat
Mater. Emily Gray is joined here by another young soprano, Claire
Buckley, and though she sings alongside Miss Gray in two other pieces
she is an accomplished singer in her own right and it would have been
good to hear more of her. They sing the Pergolesi most beautifully,
but again I found myself wishing they would shake off some of their
restraint, let themselves go a bit. And the organ sits uncomfortably
in place of the string accompaniment.
The disc ends with a rendition of When I survey
the wondrous cross in true congregational style and which refreshingly
avoids the preciousness of many other attempts to record traditional
hymns.
There are several preferable versions of the better
known pieces on this recording, but anyone buying it for what it is,
a representative example of the work of a particular choir and two most
promising young singers, will not be disappointed. Listening to it straight
through, however, one is certainly struck by the lack of variety and
contrast, and the very particular atmosphere created brings to mind
Philip Larkin’s words describing religion and the church: "That
vast, moth-eaten musical brocade/Created to pretend we never die."
William Hedley
See
what else is on offer 
Emily Gray, Claire Buckley,
sopranos; Jeffrey Makinson, organ,