Maximilian Steinberg: Passion Week

Expedition Audio Review

Steinberg: Passion Week

Passion Week is a profoundly moving composition… This is a unique and beautiful recording, one that deserves to be discovered and loved by many.

Passion Week is a profoundly moving composition. From the opening, monophonic tones, it is clear that ancient chant is central to the work’s structure – in fact, all but one of the eleven sections is based directly on a traditional chant. However, Steinberg’s harmonies quickly flower into the rich tonalities and textures that are his legacy of the late Russian Romantic tradition of Rachmaninov, Glazunov and Rimsky-Korsakov. … Cappella Romana, a group founded with the purpose of exploring the musical traditions of the Christian East and West, sound quintessential in this repertoire. This is a unique and beautiful recording, one that deserves to be discovered and loved by many.”

–Paul Ballyk