Pärt Choral Works
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Arvo Pärt
Label: Classics
Magazine Review Date: 1/1998
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 61
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 545276-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Statuit et Dominus |
Arvo Pärt, Composer
Arvo Pärt, Composer Christopher Bowers-Broadbent, Organ Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir Tõnu Kaljuste, Conductor |
| Missa Sillabica |
Arvo Pärt, Composer
Arvo Pärt, Composer Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir Tõnu Kaljuste, Conductor |
| Beatus Petronius |
Arvo Pärt, Composer
Arvo Pärt, Composer Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir Tõnu Kaljuste, Conductor |
| (7) Magnificat Antiphons |
Arvo Pärt, Composer
Arvo Pärt, Composer Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir Tõnu Kaljuste, Conductor |
| De profundis |
Arvo Pärt, Composer
Arvo Pärt, Composer Christopher Bowers-Broadbent, Organ Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir Tõnu Kaljuste, Conductor |
| Memento mori |
Arvo Pärt, Composer
Arvo Pärt, Composer Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir Tõnu Kaljuste, Conductor |
| Cantate Domino |
Arvo Pärt, Composer
Arvo Pärt, Composer Christopher Bowers-Broadbent, Organ Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir Tõnu Kaljuste, Conductor |
| Solfeggio |
Arvo Pärt, Composer
Arvo Pärt, Composer Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir Tõnu Kaljuste, Conductor |
Author: Marc Rochester
Christopher Bowers-Broadbent seems almost to have claimed exclusive rights over Arvo Part’s organ writing; he features prominently in the recordings of this music on the Gramophone Database. Part’s demands on the instrument as an accompaniment to voices are neither particularly complex nor technically demanding but do require exceptional sensitivity from the player. It is largely through skilful use of registration that Bowers-Broadbent displays his profound understanding of the music. He balances his role admirably, keeping a discreet distance from the singers for the most part and measuring the long drawn-out crescendo of De profundis to perfection.
However, this is, of course, a disc devoted to Part’s choral music and it is the choir, rather than the organist, who are the real heroes. Unlike the Theatre of Voices, the Estonian Philharmonic Choir don’t sound as if they’ve studied the music long and hard or undertaken a painstaking, systematic exploration of the territory. Just because they are, like the composer, Estonian does not give them any particular interpretative advantage over non-Estonian singers. But these performances feel as if they come from the heart; there is a tangible sense of spiritual empathy which Paul Hillier’s American singers can’t begin to emulate. Compare the magical, ethereal quality of the singing in the divine Gloria from the Missa Sillabica which Tonu Kaljuste draws from his singers with the rather studied and measured approach of Hillier. And while in my original review I thought the Theatre of Voices’ account of the magical Magnificat Antiphons “singularly compelling”, the Estonian choir reveal an even greater depth of feeling.
Virgin have created a gloriously atmospheric recording to support these stirring performances and while Part’s music, with its spiritual intensity often subverting musical purpose, is not to everyone’s taste, I would recommend this new disc unreservedly; and not just to those already converted to this opaque sound world.
'
However, this is, of course, a disc devoted to Part’s choral music and it is the choir, rather than the organist, who are the real heroes. Unlike the Theatre of Voices, the Estonian Philharmonic Choir don’t sound as if they’ve studied the music long and hard or undertaken a painstaking, systematic exploration of the territory. Just because they are, like the composer, Estonian does not give them any particular interpretative advantage over non-Estonian singers. But these performances feel as if they come from the heart; there is a tangible sense of spiritual empathy which Paul Hillier’s American singers can’t begin to emulate. Compare the magical, ethereal quality of the singing in the divine Gloria from the Missa Sillabica which Tonu Kaljuste draws from his singers with the rather studied and measured approach of Hillier. And while in my original review I thought the Theatre of Voices’ account of the magical Magnificat Antiphons “singularly compelling”, the Estonian choir reveal an even greater depth of feeling.
Virgin have created a gloriously atmospheric recording to support these stirring performances and while Part’s music, with its spiritual intensity often subverting musical purpose, is not to everyone’s taste, I would recommend this new disc unreservedly; and not just to those already converted to this opaque sound world.
'
Pärt Choral Works
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