Amazon.co.uk Review
For anyone familiar with choral music in the English cathedral tradition, this album from the Dresdner Kreuzchor offers a fascinating case study in the differences between the German and British approach. The choir is much larger, for example: there are 40 boys' voices (of whom half sing the alto line--there are no countertenors) and 20 young men to supply the tenors and basses. (Many English cathedrals use a mix of undergraduates and older singers for the lower parts.) The sound is much more open-throated and less restrained too, which means the choir is excellent at rattling the rafters at moments of climax, but on less sure ground where a light, tripping style is required. Fortunately the majority of the music on this album is admirably chosen for its suitability to the choir's strengths, and the performances of Mendelssohn, Brahms and Bruckner are stunning. Most of the repertoire is baroque or romantic, with a few excursions into the 20th century. --
Warwick Thompson