Mixed messages and mixed results in Tallinn

By Simon Cummings, 20 April 2016

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“Summa, a work that operates like watching the water’s edge at the shoreline”

Reviewed at Kultuurikatel (Culture Cauldron), Tallinn on 16 April 2016

Pärt, Summa

Pärt, The woman with the alabaster box

Tulve, Lost

Lill, Niehkkoája / The Dream Stream

Mahler, Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Urlicht (Arr. Gottwald)

Mahler, Es sungen drei Engel (Arr. Gottwald)

Mahler, Rückert-Lieder: Um Mitternacht (Arr. Gottwald)

Mahler, Symphony no. 5 in C sharp minor: Adagietto (Arr. Gottwald)

Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

Kaspars Putniņš, 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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Simon Cummings

Simon Cummings is a composer, writer and researcher based in the Cotswolds. He composes instrumental and electronic music, exploring aspects of algorithmic composition, and has recently completed a Ph.D. in composition at the Birmingham Conservatoire under the supervision of Richard Causton and Howard Skempton. His musical tastes are ludicrously broad but are focused most on contemporary/avant-garde classical and electronic music. When not composing, he writes regularly about new music; Simon is the author of the contemporary music blog 5:4 (5against4.com), and regularly contributes articles for a variety of books, journals and websites. Follow him on Twitter @5against4.

Mixed messages and mixed results from the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir