With the professional guidance of Matyas Antal, the HNC has made it a priority to present contemporary and 20th century Hungarian choral music. The ensemble appears every year in concerts of the Contemporary Music and Mini Festivals, presenting new Hungarian choral works, mainly premieres. Included on this CD are 21 pieces, all written between 1984 and 1997. There are some nice sacred songs, such as M. Paszti's "Puer natus est nobis," two motets by M. Csemeiczky, "Hodie Christus natus est" and "Ave Regina caelorum, L. Huszar's "Agnus Dei" and two by J. Sari, "Benedictus es Domine" and "Alleluia." The secular material is also interesting, such as A. Bozay's "Siralmas nekem (Woeful It Is)," on the trials of an immigrant; M. Hollos' "Among the Crowd, at Koday's Catafalque," "Altato" and "Dal" (Lullaby and Song), L. Kiraly's "Shalom, Israel," M. Kocsar's "O dawn, dawn" and "Split up, Cataract!," and Zs. Durko's eclectic "Snapshots from Kalevala" and his dramatic "Ilmarinen." All a cappella, complex, difficult material beautifully performed by Hungary's finest chorus. |
