"Freude, schöner Götterfunken!" (Joy, fair sparks of the gods) seems to be the cry of the fifth and penultimate GENUIN CD by the Camerata Limburg of the complete recording of Schubert's works for male choir. The title of the program is "Elysium," which says it all. The album is a pleasurable stroll through heavenly realms: known and unknown, from poems by Schiller, Klopstock and many, many other wonderful poets. The interpretation is on par with the entire collection: an immaculate ensemble sound and an interpretation wonderfully worked out by conductor Jan Schumacher and his masters. The only drawback? The next album in autumn will be the last of this series.
Apart from David Sanborn, probably no living saxophonist has a more instantly recognizable voice than Jan Garbarek; actually, given the fact that Sanborn's sound is so widely copied, Garbarek's may be easier to identify in a blindfold test. This album in particular puts that sound front and center. Garbarek's the show; he composed all of the music, and is essentially the only soloist. The music (much of which was composed as soundtrack material for film or video) is quintessential Garbarek, full of the world music influences that have characterized his work since the 1970s.