Listeners expecting one of the adventurous full-length programs characteristic of violinist
Anne Akiko Meyers should be apprised that this release is just an EP, slightly shy of 19 minutes long. However, it is adventurous enough, despite its brevity.
Meyers and
Los Angeles Master Chorale director
Grant Gershon describe the album as a labor of love, and indeed, that is how it comes off. Adding solo violin parts to organ-accompanied
Bach chorales may seem unorthodox, but the sheer sensuous beauty of the music-making is not to be denied. The strongest item may be the motet
Magnum Mysterium by
Morten Lauridsen, who joined
Gershon to make an arrangement of his own work for solo violin and chorus; the balances in this new version of a
Lauridsen favorite are perfect, and there is just a chance this little piece may become a major classical hit. Those not yet familiar with the
Los Angeles Master Chorale may be delighted to discover its lush, rippling sound, enhanced by the engineering at Walt Disney Hall. A labor of love, indeed. ~ James Manheim
