BLUEBIRD: VOICES FROM HEAVEN.(Review)

Choir of New College, Oxford [] "BLUEBIRD: VOICES FROM HEAVEN" Anthems of Rutter, Stanford Tavener, Rossini, Messiaen. Higginbottom, cond. Decca 289 466 870-2

Two new releases from noted British boy choirs testify to just how different such forces can sound in the hands of different conductors. The Choir of King's College, long sustainer of a grand choral tradition, grew to world prominence through the recordings made in the 1970s under its conductor David Willcocks. Many would not miss King's annual international broadcast of the Chrismas Eve service of lessons and carols. Stephen Cleobury continues King's tradition most recently with this energetic and varied recording of hymns; it demonstrates why many hold King's College to be the Cadillac of the boy-choir tradition.

Judgment passed on recordings of boy choirs must generally revolve around the sound of the boys themselves. One can bathe in the acoustic of King's College Chapel, and as a result the treble sound of this choir has a rather direct, even piercing, quality. At times this can produce a pitch that sits just south of its desired destination, but the shape of the lines is unfailingly musical, the clarity of the words exemplary, a fact especially appreciated in a recording of hymns. It should be said that Cleobury's rhythmic understanding is what gives life to these hymn arrangements, many of them old favorites such as "Come ...