Schnittke: Choir Concerto & Minnesang (CD Review - Music Week, 2002)

Schnittke: Choir Concerto; Minnesang; Voices of Nature. Holst Singers/Layton (Hyperion CDA67297). Stephen Layon's abilities as a choral trainer and conductor have been recognised with a Gramophone Award and a series of prestigeous appointments, including director of the Netherlands Radio Choir. In his latest Hyperion release, h draws a sublime performance od Schnittke's Choir Concerto from the Holst Singers. The work's rich sonorities and spiritual intensity register vividly here. Likewise, Layton shapes an outstanding interpretation of the difficult yet hauntingly beautiful Minnesang. Marketed as Hyperion's disc of the month.