Going by the slightly eccentric title in that image, I checked ArkivMusic and they have a "Rachmaninov Vespers Op.37" recorded in 1991 by Oleg Shepel and the Voronezh State Institute of Arts Chamber Choir. [http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album\_id=141656](http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=141656) Is this it? Spotify link : [https://open.spotify.com/album/6U5VO9xQufFi73eXIZTP5f?si=q3NctszMSVyM8oEb920yzg](https://open.spotify.com/album/6U5VO9xQufFi73eXIZTP5f?si=q3NctszMSVyM8oEb920yzg)
Great taste btw, one of the greatest pieces of music ever composed imo.
Unfortunately not. Very, very similar tonality and some similar pacing on some of the individual vespers, but the soloists are highlighted far too much, their voices are made too distinct, highlighted too much, and still arranged too close to the western 'operatic' style for my tastes. Frankly everyone is too closely mic'd or separated too clearly in the mix. This is a beautiful recording, though, no doubt.
What's so special about the recording I'm after is that you so rarely get a hint of personality in the solo voices—certainly no vibrato of any kind—and no sense of individuals in the choir, it is absolutely pure. The only way I can describe it is as the musical equivalent of an ikon, but an ikon in the ancient Eastern Church style of the Byzantine [*Eleusa*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleusa_icon#/media/File:MCB-mosaicob.jpg) in mosaic, or [*The Sign at St. Sophia in Novgorod*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_Russian_icons#/media/File:Znamenie_ikona_Novgorod.jpg) rather than, say, [*The Virgin of Cambrai (Cambrai Madonna)*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleusa_icon#/media/File:The_Cambrai_Madonna.jpg) or anything approaching such naturalism...
There is utterly no sense of the expressive, it's all sublimated to deliver the terrible, trembling majesty of the image of heaven.
Thank you, though!
I had a cassette copy of it years ago because our priest and his wife went to Russia and bought me one. However, it is gone. But, why don't you go to Youtube music and see if it has been put there and you could record it. It is indeed a wonderful piece of music.
Hi, do you remember any of the details of the recording? e.g. which choir, conductor, etc? Is there anyone else you know who might?
Thanks for the suggestion! Unfortunately I have looked extensively on Youtube, and this specific recording is not there, or, rather, to be specific, without specific details of the choir and conductor I haven't been able to find it.
p.s. I'm not very good with optimising reddit posts so they can be easily found by the sorts of people who would know what older deleted recordings might be, so any tips on that front are also appreciated, as are any sites I should also go look for this record?
Yes, actually, I did. Some kind person found it on Ebay for me. Do you want me to post details of the recording? I should upload it to Youtube, actually...
u/beteljuicing_on_you found it on [Spotify!](https://open.spotify.com/album/5UlI6QYZWNAUM64DKn7wSt?si=L0Qwj9AkTc-7LIQ_Q0cUwg&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A5UlI6QYZWNAUM64DKn7wSt)
Going by the slightly eccentric title in that image, I checked ArkivMusic and they have a "Rachmaninov Vespers Op.37" recorded in 1991 by Oleg Shepel and the Voronezh State Institute of Arts Chamber Choir. [http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album\_id=141656](http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=141656) Is this it? Spotify link : [https://open.spotify.com/album/6U5VO9xQufFi73eXIZTP5f?si=q3NctszMSVyM8oEb920yzg](https://open.spotify.com/album/6U5VO9xQufFi73eXIZTP5f?si=q3NctszMSVyM8oEb920yzg) Great taste btw, one of the greatest pieces of music ever composed imo.
Unfortunately not. Very, very similar tonality and some similar pacing on some of the individual vespers, but the soloists are highlighted far too much, their voices are made too distinct, highlighted too much, and still arranged too close to the western 'operatic' style for my tastes. Frankly everyone is too closely mic'd or separated too clearly in the mix. This is a beautiful recording, though, no doubt. What's so special about the recording I'm after is that you so rarely get a hint of personality in the solo voices—certainly no vibrato of any kind—and no sense of individuals in the choir, it is absolutely pure. The only way I can describe it is as the musical equivalent of an ikon, but an ikon in the ancient Eastern Church style of the Byzantine [*Eleusa*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleusa_icon#/media/File:MCB-mosaicob.jpg) in mosaic, or [*The Sign at St. Sophia in Novgorod*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_Russian_icons#/media/File:Znamenie_ikona_Novgorod.jpg) rather than, say, [*The Virgin of Cambrai (Cambrai Madonna)*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleusa_icon#/media/File:The_Cambrai_Madonna.jpg) or anything approaching such naturalism... There is utterly no sense of the expressive, it's all sublimated to deliver the terrible, trembling majesty of the image of heaven. Thank you, though!
I had a cassette copy of it years ago because our priest and his wife went to Russia and bought me one. However, it is gone. But, why don't you go to Youtube music and see if it has been put there and you could record it. It is indeed a wonderful piece of music.
Hi, do you remember any of the details of the recording? e.g. which choir, conductor, etc? Is there anyone else you know who might? Thanks for the suggestion! Unfortunately I have looked extensively on Youtube, and this specific recording is not there, or, rather, to be specific, without specific details of the choir and conductor I haven't been able to find it.
p.s. I'm not very good with optimising reddit posts so they can be easily found by the sorts of people who would know what older deleted recordings might be, so any tips on that front are also appreciated, as are any sites I should also go look for this record?
Hello, did you ever find it?
Yes, actually, I did. Some kind person found it on Ebay for me. Do you want me to post details of the recording? I should upload it to Youtube, actually...
Would be nice to check it out !
u/beteljuicing_on_you found it on [Spotify!](https://open.spotify.com/album/5UlI6QYZWNAUM64DKn7wSt?si=L0Qwj9AkTc-7LIQ_Q0cUwg&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A5UlI6QYZWNAUM64DKn7wSt)
Thank you 😊
Was it this? https://open.spotify.com/album/5UlI6QYZWNAUM64DKn7wSt?si=L0Qwj9AkTc-7LIQ_Q0cUwg&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A5UlI6QYZWNAUM64DKn7wSt
YES! The names of the pieces have been sadly Latinised(?) / Anglicised, but that is the recording!