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Relaxing Evenings with Zeb Soanes 7pm - 10pm
The Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Estonian National SO shimmer in ECM’s reverberant recorded acoustic.
Composer: Pärt
Repertoire: In Principio
Artists: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Estonian National SO/Tõnu Kaljuste
Rating: 3/5
Genre: Orchestra
Label: ECM 476 6990
This retrospective of Estonian Arvo Pärt’s music celebrates 25 years of partnership with ECM, the label that launched his works to a wider public with Tabula Rasa. Performed by two Estonian groups, it takes in music both new and old in Pärt’s style of sacred minimalism. In Principio, a five-movement choral work, begins surprisingly urgently with a rhythmic drive reminiscent of Stravinsky before settling into the slow-moving, hypnotic blocks of sound usually associated with Pärt. Other new works for orchestra are studies of sustained, hyper-emotional harmonies.