Customer Rating: 
Summary: Stellar Recording!
Comment: This CD is something I have been looking for. I heard some selections and just had to have it! Since I am a fan of Robert Frost, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Randall Thompson, listening to it was a profound experience! In short, I LOVED IT!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: This will be "The Recording" of Frostiana for many years
Comment: I'm a recently born again fan of the MTC, so I had to pick this one up when it came out. I'm familiar with many of the pieces on the CD, so I was rather surprised with the orchestral arrangements that were included. (Frostiana was originally written for piano!) My surprise quickly turned into a wonderful listening experience as Craig Jessop sensitively led the choir through these beautiful standards of choral literature.
There were several places when the sheer size of the choir got in the way of me understanding the text, and there were balance issues with the orchestra and men/women in a few places. I imagine it's to be expected with a group this size, but it was distracting at times.
However, I was delighted to hear some pieces on this CD that I've never heard before. Craig Jessop and the MTC provide us with a wonderful 'greatest hits' of Randall Thompson with this recording. Bravo to the MTC for having the guts to take on such well-loved music. It's sad to me how little it is performed these days. I hope this CD brings all of these works back into high school and college performances.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Gorgeous, shimmering rendition of Frostiana
Comment: I bought this CD because I wanted a decent recording of Randall Thompson's Frostiana. It surpassed all my hopes. I was somewhat suspicious about whether the MTC could carry off the mystical, secular music of "Choose Something Like a Star," "Come In" and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." I shouldn't have worried. The MTC is staffed, directed and conducted by true musicians, and its use of orchestration added even more to the performance. Initially, I was bothered by the flautist's rhythmic interpretation of the wood thrush in "Come In" -- it seemed like the flute wasn't coming in on cue -- but then I realized that this was probably a deliberate artistic interpretation. Of course one wouldn't expect a bird to sing on cue. Sheer genius.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A sublime recording
Comment: In the past, I have often been critical of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It seemed to me that, regardless what type of music they performed, it all sounded the same. When Craig Jessop took over the podium five or six years ago, it was obvious that the choir's musicality and technique began to change for the better.
In my opinion, this recording is the culmination of that change. The choir's transformation to a Robert Shaw-like sound is marvelous. The soprano section has shed its vibrato and is now capable of proucing that elusive "white" sound that all modern choir directors seek to emulate from Robert Shaw. And the tenor section is now all that it can be. Wow!
With a superb collection of Randall Thompson's mystical and melodic choral music, this recording has become my all-time favorite. Along with The Los Angeles Master Chorale's "Lux Aeterna, this music is other-worldly. It is a huge landmark in choral singing and you should run, not walk, to get this recording.
It is simply fabulous!
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Must for American Choral Music Fans
Comment: There have been a number of recordings of Randall Thompson's beautiful choral music of late, but this one is really sublime.
Beautiful, refined choral singing from one of the nation's premiere choirs.
Perhaps the most important thing, however, is as far as I know, this is the only recording of Thompson's orchestral version of The Last Words of David. For a work less than 4 minutes long, it packs an incredible wallop in this version. The performance here is worth the price of ten CDs!!!
Grab this before it disappears!
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