Edinburgh International Festival: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

By Alan Coady, 02 September 2013

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Reviewed at Usher Hall, Edinburgh on 29 August 2013

Works by Pärt

Schnittke, Three Sacred Songs

Kreek, Psalm of David 22

Kreek, Psalm of David 104

Kreek, Blessed is the Man

Rachmaninov, All Night Vigil (“Vespers”), Op.37

Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

Daniel Reuss, Conductor

Estonian Festival Orchestra make Carnegie Hall debut with Arvo Pärt

David Wolfson, 23rd October

Paavo Järvi and the Estonian Festival Orchestra don’t skirt all the pitfalls of a single-composer program in an all-Pärt evening at Carnegie Hall.

***11

A meditative Estonian celebration of 90 years of Arvo Pärt

David Smythe, 5th October

The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Tõnu Kaljuste, present an Arvo Pärt portrait concert in Glasgow.

****1

Musically peerless but battering: Wozzeck in Aix

David Karlin, 7th July

Sir Simon Rattle and the LSO give an orchestral performance to remember, with a fine singing cast, but Simon McBurney's staging dials the bleakness to maximum too early.

***11

Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir intrigues in Dublin concert

Andrew Larkin, 16th November

The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir shows poise and elegance in works by fellow Estonians Arvo Pärt and Veljo Tormis.

***11

At the Festival d'Aix: to hear Tristan... and to die

Romain Daroles, 8th July

The Festival d'Aix-en-Provence gives us a definitive performance of Wagner's opera – but for listening only.

***11

Into silence: Arvo Pärt's distinctive soundworld casts a spell

Matthew Rye, 3rd February

A portrait concert of music by Arvo Pärt, while single-mindedly contemplative in tone, proves surprisingly absorbing in the hands of his most authoritative interpreters.

****1

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Alan Coady

Alan has taught classical guitar in East Lothian schools since 1982. A graduate in Music of the then Huddersfield Polytechnic, he has a soft spot for the contemporary. He also writes a Musical Blog, where the special interest is the intersection of music/language/science.