"Gottwald's awesome technical demands put much of this music
way beyond the scope of most choirs, and it is greatly to Ralph
Allwood's credit that the Rodolfus Choir, most of whom are students
and all of whom are under 25, have not only tackled this music at all
but have done so with considerable distinction ... there is a
collective enthusiasm for the music and for art of choral singing ...
They clearly relish the vocal harmonics in Ravel's Soupir, they
love the bell effects in Debussy's Les Angélus, they
positively luxuriate in the warm glow of Gottwald's take on "O
mio babbino caro" and they float around with enormous enthusiasm
in the misty textures of Caplet's Présentation"
Gramophone, Awards 2007
"Do his arrangements stand up well against the original? The answer is mainly yes. This is thanks to the persuasive performance of the young singers of the Rodolfus Choir, who do not blench at what is sometimes a formidable task"
Choir and Organ
Choral director, composer and musicologist, Clytus Gottwald turns
his attention to complex and masterly choral arrangements of works from
the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Works by European
composers including Wagner, Mahler, Debussy and Webern are arranged in up
to sixteen parts, performed by the Rodolfus Choir, directed by Ralph
Allwood.
