2008 Grammy Winner
Best Engineered Album (Classical)
John Newton, Engineer, Soundmirror
Purchase individual MP3 tracks here
PHOENIX BACH CHOIR
4 GRAMMY®
Award Nominations for the
Phoenix Bach Choir and Kansas City Chorale
Nominations for their joint recording “Passion Week” include:
•Best Classical Album
•Best Choral Performance
•Best Surround Sound Album
•Best Engineered Album, Classical
Reviews for “Passion Week”
“Rapt and utterly unrushed under Maestro Bruffy’s guidance, it unfolds out of silence as an extended prayer that never loses its devotional energy. The singing is simply gorgeous, with the Super Audio format flattering the artistic intentions of everyone involved. Bravo to Chandos for its willingness to compete against itself with this new offering. My guess is that Passion Week sung in Church Slavonic by these two gifted choirs will become one of the most celebrated releases of 2007, and deservedly so. It’s a stunner in all respects.” – American Record Guide
“The massed forces of the Phoenix Bach Choir and the Kansas City Chorale (both are professional groups) make a formidable choral machine, one which seems to produce an unending wave of smoothly blended sound. If Grechaninov’s music is sentimental in the best sense, this performance has an integrity and honesty to it which I find profoundly moving.” – BBC Music Magazine's Vocal/Choral CD of the Month, May 2007 PERFORMANCE ***** SOUND *****
“If I had heard this album knowing nothing about its performers, I would smile, nod sagely and say, “They’re Russian, of course”. Phoenix, Arizona and Kansas City would not have registered for a second on my choral radar, but their respective Bach Choir and Chorale will do from now on. Their combined professional forces do full justice to Gretchaninov’s 13 eloquently simple Passion Week pieces, matching the basso profondo richness of the best Russian choirs with refined tuning and impeccably unanimous ensemble. Vocal weight here brings a welcome luster to the sound without any loss of focus, a quality upheld by Chandos in its excellent surround-sound recording.” – Classic FM (UK)
“A milestone in Russian choral music delivered in thrilling style here.”
–Gramophone
“Luxuriant textures, sumptuous harmonies, mouth-watering melodies, all beautifully conveyed with ravishing choral tone; this is a simply gorgeous disc.”
–International Record Review
“...ravishingly sung by two American choirs, both specialists in unaccompanied choral music. A glorious disc, and highly recommended.” – Guardian Unlimited (UK)
“This will be one of my discs of the year, without question. Rarely have I heard a cappella singing of such quality and refinement or a recording that so perfectly complements it.” – Musicweb International
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'Rheinberger, chapel master to King Ludwig II, composed romantically sumptuous yet classically refined church music, qualities cherished by these excellent choristers.' -Classic FM
'This is all very lovely, and, no, that is not a euphemism for boring. The composer lives up to his ideal of music as well crafted, beautiful sound, and the performances conform. No jagged edge or incompatible vibration obtrudes upon the perfect blend of choral tone. The style is careful over the shading and shaping of phrases, the effect beneficent and reverential. The programme is similarly comforting in sound and manner, at its centre the Mass, Rheinberger’s acknowledged choral masterpiece, in the comforting key of E flat.' -Gramophone
'This is a disc that should convince doubters that there is far more to Rheinberger than usually meets the ear."
-International Record Review
"The performances by the Phoenix Bach Choir and Kansas City Chorale (separate organizations, but often combined as they are here for double-choir music) are superb... Conductor Charles Bruffy performed with Robert Shaw and has inherited his tendencies toward seamless blends and a warm, rounded tone. A superb choral release..." James Manheim, All Music Guide
"I'm beginning to sound like a broken record; I fall all over myself praising each new release of music by the combined Kansas City Chorale and Phoenix Bach Choir under the direction of master choir director, Charles Bruffy. These two professional choirs, who sing together regularly in both Phoenix and Kansas City in their concert seasons, have an extraordinarily homogeneous blend with eerily impeccable intonation and with particular emphasis on pure vowel sounds. The music they make has an ethereal and yet immensely moving effect. We are indeed fortunate to receive their regular releases -and can only hope that their cooperative ventures continue well into the future. "
J. Scott Morrison, Amazon.com Reviewer
 
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"..this is one of the finest a cappella choral recordings I've ever heard. By any reckoning, this CD features astonishing singing. Pitch, intonation and ensemble are exactly where they need to be. Although there are miles and miles of soft singing on this disc, not once do the singers lose their tonal focus, and the intensity of the sound actually seems to increase as the dynamic level decreases." -International Record Review
"Hearing both of Bruffy’s word-class choirs at once is a particular treat, especially in the complex Martin piece. Even combined, their numbers are still shy of some larger chamber choirs –but they never lose the crystalline purity of sound or tonal beauty that Bruffy’s ensembles are known for. You won’t hear better balance, more affecting musicality, or such exquisite phrasing from any other American ensemble." -American Record Guide
"Their vocal blend is the most uniform I have ever heard...the velvety brilliance of the voices extends from cavernous depths to stratospheric scintillation with equal quality...a spectacular helping of meditative, consoling passion music."
-Finnish Broadcasting Company Radio 1
"This performance has some stiff competition, notably the Hyperion recording made by Westminster Cathedral Choir/James O’Donnell (BBC Music’s choral recording of the year in 1998) but it easily holds its own." Performance ***** Sound ***** -BBC Music Magazine
"The works on the disc are spiced with carefully considered dissonances, which the choir's granite-solid intonation and virtuoso ease do complete justice." -Antti Häyrynen Rondo Classica (Finland)
"Great singing, great recording and simply divine music. This recording is something pretty special. How can you fail to be bewitched by singing like that?" -BBC Radio 3
"...well drilled and beautifully balanced singing prove deeply satisfying. The first of a series of joint ventures by these choirs; future instalments will be well worth hearing. " -Gramophone
 The Best Choral CD I've Heard This Year, December 20, 2006
"There is little question that I'll run out of superlatives before I get to the end of this review. I was so taken by this CD that features the combined forces of the Phoenix Bach Choir and the Kansas City Chorale that I was actually daunted by the prospect of writing a review that would do it justice. " " In SACD the sound is spectacular, possibly the best choral sound I've ever heard on disc..." Amazon Reviewer, J Scott Morrison
"Charles Bruffy's Phoenix Bach Choir/Kansas City Chorale recording is superb in every way. Of the half dozen or so recordings of my piece, "There Will Be Rest", this is by far the best of them. I am thrilled and honored to receive such a loving, caring recording of my music. I bought numerous copies myself to give as gifts to my closest friends." -Frank Ticheli, Composer
"Charles Bruffy's recording of my composition "In Pace" is magical. Its combination of refined elements of ensemble together with elegant phrasing and imaginative musicianship make it heartfelt listening, indeed." -René Clausen, Composer
Featured Repertoire includes:
Canticum Calamitatis Maritimae -Jaakko Mäntyjärvi 
There Will Be Rest -Frank Ticheli
Mass for Double Choir -Frank Martin
Kyrie
Gloria
Credo
Sanctus
Agnus Dei
In Pace -Rene Clausen
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'Where has this fabulous choir been all my life? I’ve heard several outstanding efforts from Robert Shaw protégé Charles Bruffy with his Kansas City Chorale, but I’ve never heard him at the helm of this brilliant Arizona group before. No choral strength you can name eludes them. They easily surpass the last Shakespeare collection I reviewed (many of the same pieces). Chandos’ usual lucid and unaffected notes, full texts and resplendent SACD-hybrid sound conspire with irresistible choral wizardry to make this an absolute must.' -American Record Guide
'...great intelligence and sensitivity with snug part-singing, buoyant rhythms, and a tone that shifts easily from deepest gloom to gleaming light.' -Fanfare
''This is an entreprising disc from Chandos, which has reached out a long arm to bring in an accomplished American choir. Everything here is likeable both as composition and as performance.'' -Gramophone
 Stunningly Good : You've GOT to Hear This in SACD!, March 2, 2005
This is stunningly beautiful release that I recommend unstintingly. On my wish-list is a recording in SACD of the Phoenix Bach Choir and the Kansas City Chorale reunited to sing 'Spem in alium.' Now THAT would really be something heard in surround
sound the way Tallis intended it! -Amazon Reviewer J. Scott Morrison
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Tell me where is fancy bred. |
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I shall no more to sea. |
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When that I was and a little tiny boy. |
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It was a lover and his lass. |
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O mistress mine! |
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Robert Comeaux tenor solo |
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When daffodils begin to peer. |
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Caroline Markham alto solo |
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Songs of Ariel from Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' |
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Come unto these yellow sands (Ariel's Song) |
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Full fathom five. Jacob W. Herbert baritone solo |
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Before you can say, 'Come,' and 'Go'. |
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You are three men of sin. |
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Janet Carlsen Campbell alto solo |
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Where the bee sucks, there suck I. |
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Jaakko Mäntyjärvi (b. 1963) |
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Come away, come away, death. |
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Double, double toil and trouble. |
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Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? |
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O, Mistress mine: A Garland of Elizabethan Poetry |
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Dominick Argento (b. 1927) |
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Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) |
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The cloud-capp'd towers. |
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"...a superbly produced and packaged yuletide CD. Jon Washburn conducts the ensemble of Frank Koonce, guitar; Mark Sunkett, percussion; and the choir with select soloists...a sonically clean and vibrant recording" -The Arizona Republic
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