SWR Vokal Ensemble / Marcus Creed BALTIKUM

BALTIKUM

Latvian Radio Choir / Sinfonietta Rīga / Sigvards Kļava PETERIS VASKS Laudate Dominum

LAUDATE DOMINUM

Sinfonietta Rīga / Maxim Rysanov PETERIS VASKS Viola Concerto - String Symphony "Voices"

VIOLA CONCERTO - STRING SYMPHONY

Vadim Gluzman / Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra / Hannu Lintu PETERIS VASKS Distant Light - Piano Quartet - Summer Dances

                              DISTANT LIGHT - PIANO QUARTET - SUMMER DANCES

Choir of Clare College, Cambridge / The Dmitri Ensemble / Graham Ross ARVO PÄRT Stabat

                                                                          STABAT

Daniel Rowland / Maja Bogdanović PAS DE DEUX

                                                                   PAS DE DEUX

Fenella Humphreys / Covent Garden Sinfonia / Ben Palmer THE FOUR SEASONS RECOMPOSED

I would love to record the original Four Seasons one day. I think that of any work in the violin repertoire Vivaldi gives you so much scope for creativity and colour, particularly through his written descriptions and sonnets, that you could never come to the end of the possibilities contained within the music. I never learnt them as a kid and then avoided them for years, partly because I’d become so accustomed to hearing them in the background that I didn’t realise how brilliant they really are. When I was finally booked to perform them a few years ago, and forced to learn them, I was actually really pleased to be coming to them fresh and without preconceptions.

For this project we would have been quite pushed to fit both sets of Seasons (Vivaldi and Richter) on a single disc. Richter’s Seasons deserves to be heard on its own terms, rather than in a direct comparison like that, and it felt right for this disc to put his music in a different context. (Fenella Humphreys)

Hermine Horiot BORÉALES

 Boréales is the second album of cellist Hermine Horiot, recently released for the 1001 Notes label. A vast solo cello crossover, in the heart of six Nordic and Baltic countries, spanning more than a century of music. From Sibelius to Arvo Pärt, through contemporary creation and the rediscovery of unfairly unknown works outside their borders, Boréales goes out to meet geniuses from the cold, with dreamlike, complex and luminous language. Like the aurora of the same name, the changing lights of these music rise from the silence to come to bloom in the ear of the listener. Their colors will be different for everyone, that's the strength of the music.
The merger of the cello and the electronics accentuates this dimension, with the piece Fratres by Arvo Pärt, in an unprecedented adaptation of Julien Podolak, validated by the composer.
At the end of their work for Arvo Pärt's Fratres, Hermine Horiot and Julien Podolak came up with a live version of Boréales, in which the electronics are fully integrated into the recital in a single breath: slipping between the pieces it creates links, sometimes breaks.
During the concert, a duet is formed between the cello and the electronics: a dreamlike dialogue, a sound and moving architecture, different for each performance.

Michael Faust / Sheila Arnold / Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä / Patrick Gallois PETERIS VASKS Flute Concerto - Flute Sonata - Aria e danza - Landscape with Birds

If I hear a piece of music on the radio that I don’t immediately recognise I try to guess first of all roughly when it was written. Then I try to identify the part of the world it is from. I do this before trying to determine any traits that might indicate who it might be by. In this way I can at least narrow down a few possibilities before waiting to find out the answer. 

I don’t know enough of Latvian composer Peteris Vasks’ music to be able to identify it precisely as being by him. On the other hand I might have managed the rest of my own criteria and narrowed down the part of the world in rough terms. There does, after all, seem to be a commonality of sound world shared by composers from the Baltic States and Finland. I find that there is a wonderfully ethereal quality to the music of composers from that area of Europe that is so very descriptive. I first heard this in the music of Sibelius and it seemed and seems to me to describe perfectly the cold, clear air and snowy tree-filled landscape. 

In his Concerto for flute and orchestra Vasks’ also has that precise quality for which the flute, with its bright, clear tone, is a perfect vehicle. This is a seriously brilliant work of almost indescribable beauty. It works its magic on the listener from the very opening and is so captivating it is difficult to leave it for another work without wanting to hear it again immediately. No one could fail to be mesmerised by its fabulous tonal quality. Also fascinating are the extraordinary abilities of flautist Michael Faust for whom the concerto was written. 

The art of flute playing is again amply demonstrated in the Sonata for flute and alto flute solo. It’s in three movements, the central one for flute and the outer ones for alto flute. It is an object lesson in flute virtuosity in which Vasks has the instruments mimic the calls of animals or birds. None of this presents any challenge at all to Faust whose artistry seems boundless. 
Aria e danza for flute and piano is less identifiable in terms of geographical origin. That in no way detracts from its qualities. It was written ostensibly for teaching purposes but I can imagine that any would-be flautist who could achieve a convincing performance of it would be considered as being on their way to achieving their aim. 

The final work Landscape with Birds for flute solo is another composition that would test all but the most skilled musicians. It calls for almost every facet the instrument can produce. 

It was no surprise to read that Vasks is passionate about environmental issues. He incorporates his concerns about the fragile relationship between Man and Nature into his music as well as implying the risks we run if we don’t keep this at the forefront of our minds in our dealings with nature. These concerns, which are so well expressed in the flute concerto, are of greater importance to him than a simple statement about the beauty of nature though obviously that also comes through. 

The concerto (in its revised form) and the Aria e Danza are both world première recordings. The sound is superb. South Indian-born pianist Sheila Arnold is an utterly sympathetic partner for Faust in the Aria e Danza. The small 38-member Finnish Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä is exemplary in its performance of the concerto under Patrick Gallois who has been its music director for nine years up to 2013. After his tenure ends the orchestra’s artistic committee will take on the responsibility for deciding its programmes. 

This is a wonderful disc of the most compelling music. Once again Naxos has come up trumps in presenting it to the public and at a price it can afford. All of this should help it to achieve the widespread recognition it deserves. (Steve Arloff)

Alina Pogostkina / Sinfonietta Riga / Juha Kangas PETERIS VASKS Vox Amoris

Peteris Vasks' music should be viewed against the socially and politically turbulent history of his home country Latvia. All three pieces, here, according to Vasks, represent the polarity between optimistic hope for a better future and an anxious concern for the modern world.
Regarding the fantasia "Vox Amoris" Vasks said: "It has to do with the strongest force in the world - love. I hope that this piece touches the listener and makes the world a little more friendly and open for love." With the violin, the "voice of love", the listener experiences different sensations from a gentle blossoming to open passion.
1996/97 saw the composition of the concerto "Tala gaisma" (Distant Light", Vasks' first and so far most extensive work for violin and string orchestra. Its form consists of a sequence of strongly contrasting episodes that are partly influenced by Latvian folk music.
Almost ten years later he wrote "Vientulais engelis" (Lonely Angel). During its composition, Vasks had a special image in mind: "I saw an angel, flying over the world; the angel looks at the world's condition with grieving eyes, but an almost imperceptible, loving touch of the angel's wings brings comfort and healing. This piece is my music after the pain."
The pieces are performed by the exceptional violinist Alina Pogostkina, superbly accompanied by the Sinfonietta Riga under the direction of Juha Kangas. "You really have to rhapsodize about Alina Pogostkina: so young, so brilliant, so musical, perfect and at the same time natural." (Süddeutsche Zeitung)

Dennis Russell Davies / Stuttgarter Kammerorchester SHOSTAKOVICH - VASKS - SCHNITTKE

Russell Davies, who really feels his Eastern Europeans, contrasts Shostakovich's lament for Dresden and humanity with Yuri Bashmet's sensitive arrangement of Schnittke's elegiac String Trio and introduces us to a powerfully moving piece by Latvian Vasks ­ Musica dolorosa. It's a pre-glasnost work whose tonal dramas linger long in the mind. Benefiting from charismatically brilliant playing, poetic phrasing and spiritiually involving bass resonances, this is an anthology not to be missed.' (Alex Orga, BBC Music Magazine) 

'The lamenting climaxes of the Vasks make an unforgettable impression here, and the link with Shostakovich is even more pertinent in the Schnittke where memories of music of the distant past (Russian chant, Schubert, Mahler) are paraded before the listener like shadows in the night. Throughout the three works, the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra deliver highly charged performances, and the recording balances warmth of tone with admirable clarity of detail.' (Erik Levi, Classic CD)

'Among recent releases from ECM, the stunning label that records the works of Pärt and others, is Dolorosa, a collection of three works by 20th century dissident composers from the former Soviet Union. These works are profoundly moving testaments to the power of the human spirit to resist oppression. Vasks' title cut, and the recording's centrepiece, was written to both express and 'console' the suffering of the Latvian people. Admittedly bleak, at times very dramatic, it is also gorgeous ­ a near-perfect expression from a 'saddened optimist' searching for a way out of the crisis of his time, towards affirmation, towards faith. Music grounded in the mire of real life that can lift the soul toward the transcendent.' (Dwight Ozard, Prism) 

Sol Gabetta / Amsterdam Sinfonietta VASKS Presence

Cellist Sol Gabetta has long wanted Pēteris Vasks to compose a concerto for her and on 25 October 2012, Gabetta, in collaboration with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta and its Artistic Director Candida Thompson, presented the new work at last. Klātbūtne (‘Presence’), for cello and string orchestra, was premiered at the music centre De Bijloke in Gent.

Latvian composer Vasks stands out among his contemporaries as an especially versatile composer, writing in different timbres and tunings to create hugely varied sound worlds. This can be heard in his eight works for string orchestra and three concertos for violin and strings. Klātbūtne is the first of Vasks’ works for the combination of solo cello and strings, and the three movement work was commissioned by the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, the Amsterdam Cello Biennale, Eduard van Beinum Foundation and the International Istanbul Music Festival.

Gabetta and the Amsterdam Sinfonietta gave the German premiere of Klātbūtne on 26 October at the Forum am Schlosspark, Ludwigsburg, and two further performances took place on 27 October at the Tonhalle Düsseldorf and on 29 October at the Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam.

Elina Garanča MEDITATION

On September 16, Elina Garanca will be releasing "Meditation," her most beautiful selection of spiritual music dedicated to the eternal search and longing for inner peace. It's perhaps one of her most personal albums ever which connects the listener with Elina's Latvian roots.

Elina's parents were involved with choral music, she grew up listening to this music and sang herself in choirs as a young musician, so it is a very important album to her personally, celebrating the origins of her own singing career  She studied at the Latvian Academy of Music with her mother. She won the Mirjam Helin Singing Competition in 1999 and was a finalist in the 2001 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition.

She began her professional career as a resident artist with the Südthüringischer Staatstheater in Meiningen where she appeared in a number of leading roles and she appeared as a resident artist with the Frankfurt Opera. In September 2005 Ms Garanča became an exclusive recording artist with Deutsche Grammophon. Her first solo recording 'Aria Cantilena' was released in March 2007 to great popular and critical acclaim and she was awarded the prestigious ECHO KLASSIK award for 'Singer of the Year 2007.' Her second solo record, 'Bel Canto' was received with similar enthusiasm.

Ms Garanča has since, quickly established herself as one of the music world's major stars through her performances with leading opera theaters and symphony orchestras around the world. She has captured critical and popular acclaim for her beautiful voice, intelligent musicianship, and compelling stage portrayals.

The album includes a couple of real discoveries like Praulinš' Dievaines, but also some hit repertoire like the Cantique de Noel d'Adam. This is probably her most commercial album to date, the careful selected variety of the repertoire will attract a lot of new fans. Latvian choirs are extremely famous worldwide, so it was natural for her to want a Latvian choir with her for this recording. Two Latvian composers have been involved in the music for this recording - Ugis Praulinš for his work Dievaines, and Eriks Esenvalds who has written an a cappella arrangement (Allegri Miserere) especially for this recording.

Elina is joined on this recording by her husband, the well-known Gibraltan conductor Karel Mark Chichon OBE. This is their second collaboration on disc for DG following the success of Habanera.

(Timothy Yap / Sep 01, 2014)