SHCHEDRIN, R.K.: Sealed Angel (The) (Parkman) (Rodion Konstantinovich Shchedrin)

Album review

Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin (pronounced "Sh-CHAY-dreen") has seen it all; the discrediting of composers in the middle Soviet period, the gradual thaw against "formalist" techniques later on, Perestroika, and beyond. From the period of Perestroika comes his cantata The Sealed Angel, presented here by the Berlin Radio Choir under the direction of Stefan Parkman. The Sealed Angel is a meticulous and straightforward setting of a Russian orthodox liturgical text artfully rearranged so as not to attract attention from authorities. Although composed in 1988 to commemorate the 1,000th anniversary of the Christianization of Russia, Shchedrin knew better than to make the work overtly devotional, as atheism was still the official state religion toward the end of the Soviet period. The title was taken from Nikolai Leskow's popular nineteenth century novella about a sacred relic, although the work has no other connection to its implied literary source. Also, the use of solo flute in this work is definitely not "kosher" in a Russian Orthodox service where only voices are permitted for music-making.
The Sealed Angel is a very slow-moving, restrained, quiet, and reflective piece that seems a million miles away from the acerbic and dissonant language Shchedrin used in his Polyphonic Notebook or the parodist collages in his Carmen-Suite. This choral performance is decent, but not wholly transparent thanks to some singers who don't quite blend into the music. The recording, an SACD, is very good, and it will put you in the Funkhaus in Berlin where it was made, and if you imagine hard enough, perhaps in some ancient Russian cathedral. Listeners who enjoy the settings of regular Russian orthodox services by composers such as Rachmaninov or Grechaninov might also like this; present company didn't find it terribly exciting nor particularly meditative, but the clarity of the Coviello's recording is still amazing.

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