Quite by chance I heard this choir singing Vespers five years ago in what was then Leningrad and was deeply impressed. I am delighted to report that the DG producer, Peter Czorny, was also there, and in April this year was able to record the Vigil Service of Palm Sunday (the subtitle ''St Petersburg Litany'' is neither here nor there: it really should be specified on the jewel-case somewhere that it is the Palm Sunday Vigil). This is the Russian tradition on a grand scale, starting with the great clanging bells out of which emerges the deacon's opening ''Slava Svyatey... '' and the first huge choral ''Amin'' which sets the tone for what is to follow.
DG have something of a tradition of making live recordings of services (I am thinking, for example, of the magnificent recordings of the Holy Week and Easter services made on Mount Athos: surely it is time for such material to be reissued?), and this disc is a worthy successor indeed, being, as far as I know, the first live recording of the Palm Sunday service. The singing of the choir is generally first-rate, and if there are sometimes slips of intonation and smudged entries, who could blame the performers given that this disc is a distillation of a service which lasts for a little longer than three hours and that they choose such adventurous repertoire? In amongst some quite run-of-the-mill settings there appear richly scored works of Chesnokov (Blazhen muzh, for example, on track 2) and Rachmaninov (various settings from the Vigil Service or Vespers, notably Nyne otpushchaeshi on track 10)—a very difficult piece indeed to bring off in a liturgical celebration—and it is marvellous to hear how well they are integrated into their context, so used is one to hearing them in concert as part of a musical package rather than a liturgical rite: no need for ''liturgical reconstruction'' here.
DG have sensibly provided the disc with tracks so that one can find one's way around easily and there is an excellent commentary on the structure and content of the service written by Fr Philip Steer. It is a shame that there are no texts provided, though it must be said that they would have taken up a great deal of room. A remarkable recording and at the same time a historical event: this disc must be heard.'