One of the most popular and at the same time one of the most reviled choral works of all time comes up startlingly fresh in Jos van Immerseel’s totally rethought approach. Dispensing with massive woolly choir and sumptuous big orchestra, he reverts to a wind and percussion-dominated ensemble of genuine prewar German instruments, a small professional choir and children’s ensemble. The results are razor-sharp, emphasising the Stravinsky-like crystalline edginess of the textures, and the brilliant if brutal imagination behind them. The sound dazzles and delights, and the three soloists – Yeree Suh, Yves Saelens and Thomas Bauer – are equally fresh-voiced. It also comes with an unusually witty comic-strip promotion of the storyline of the work’s rediscovery. A classic reinvented.
