CD Description
The French church of Berne and its great organ are the setting for this new recording of Benjamin Righetti's own arrangement of the great piano Sonata in B minor. Then, the Académie Vocal de Suisse Romande, a new professional chamber choir, in their first recording perform the 'Missa choralis' which stands at the forefront of Liszt's substantial output of sacred compositions. Composed in 1865 and published in 1869 it represents a return to Palestrina: the term 'choralis' refers directly to plainchant, which Liszt quotes briefly at the opening of the Kyrie and Credo. However the modal polyphony very quickly takes on chromatic tinges and Romantic colours, and the orchestra seems to burst forth from under the vocal writing. Benjamin Righetti is resident organist at the French Church, Kultur-Casino and holds a teaching post at the Hochschule der Künste Bern. in Berne.