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Monday, March 19, 2018

Pēteris Vasks - Laudate Dominum; etc. (Sigvards Kļava)


Information

Composer: Pēteris Vasks
  1. Da pacem, Domine
  2. Mein Herr und mein Gott
  3. Laudate Dominum
  4. Prayer (Lord, open our eyes)
  5. The Fruit of Silence

Ilze Reine, organ (3)
Latvian Radio Choir
Sinfonietta Rīga
Sigvards Kļava, conductor

Date: 2017
Label: Ondine
https://ondine.net/index.php?lid=en&cid=2.2&oid=5992

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Review

Lauma Malnace’s booklet note speaks of Pēteris Vasks’s ability to ‘transform something deeply personal into a metaphysical message’, which is surely one of the composer’s greatest gifts and that which renders much technical discussion of his music irrelevant. ‘One of’ because Vasks has often done more too (he has railed on behalf of his fellow Latvians in gestures that seem more collective than personal), but here the mood is one of devotion almost without exception.

The piece titled Prayer (2011) is in fact the least prayer-like, rising up in agitation on behalf of ‘the cold, the frightened, the oppressed’ (the words of Mother Theresa) until it slips down via a cello/bass glissando on to a wondrous chord of rare comfort for Vasks. The Fruit of Silence (2013), the disc’s postscript, also floats down on to a Fauré-like modulation in its final breath and there is a Brahms-like glow to Mein Herr und mein Gott (2016), which sets a poetic supplication by the politician-turned-hermit Nicholas of Flüe (1417 87).

In the two longest pieces, intensity comes from the act of prayer itself: focus, concentration, repetition. Da pacem, Domine (2016), ‘a prayer for our mad world’ in the composer’s words, homes in on typical Vasks phrase shapes and harmonies but exercises remarkable control and generates extraordinary intensity. Laudate Dominum (2016) achieves something similar, pitting tumultuous organ passages against pure choral textures and again exploring the transformative power of repetition. Ilze Reine plays the organ of St John’s Church in Riga as if with fire in her eyes, and the Latvian Radio Choir’s trademark combination of purity and luminosity with a sprinkling of Russian friction sets the piece off. At first you might presume Vasks is growing more calm and reflective in these recent works. But the opposite might well be the case.

-- Andrew Mellor, Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2017/Dec/Vasks_laudate_ODE13022.htm
https://www.allmusic.com/album/peteris-vasks-laudate-dominum-mw0003112699

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Pēteris Vasks (born 16 April 1946 in Aizpute, Latvia) is a Latvian composer. He trained as a violinist and a double-bass player and played in several Latvian orchestras before entering the State Conservatory in Vilnius in Lithuania to study composition with Valentin Utkin. He started to become known outside Latvia in the 1990s, when Gidon Kremer started championing his works and now is one of the most influential and praised European contemporary composers. Vasks's compositions incorporate archaic, folklore elements from Latvian music with the language of contemporary music.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C4%93teris_Vasks
https://en.schott-music.com/shop/autoren/peteris-vasks

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Sigvards Kļava (born 1962) is a Latvian choral conductor. Sigvards Kļava began working with the Latvian Radio Choir in 1987 and was appointed its Chief Conductor and Artistic Director in 1992. As one of Latvia's most prolific choral conductors, Kļava has collaborated with every leading choir and orchestra in the country, performing standard repertoire and conducting most premieres of new choral works by Latvian composers. He has recorded over 20 CDs with the Latvian Radio Choir. He teaches at the Latvian Academy of Music and the Choral College of the Riga Lutheran Cathedral.
https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigvards_K%C4%BCava
https://www.ondine.net/?lid=en&cid=3.2&oid=3225

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FLAC, tracks
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Enjoy!

8 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Gracias por esta joya.

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. I am very grateful, thank you

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  5. Could you re-upload this disc? The MEGA link has expired. Thanks in advance.

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  6. Choose one link, copy and paste it to your browser's address bar, wait a few seconds (you may need to click 'Continue' first), then click 'Skip Ad' (or 'Get link').
    If you are asked to download or install anything, IGNORE, only download from file hosting site (mega.nz).
    If MEGA shows 'Bandwidth Limit Exceeded' message, try to create a free account.

    http://fumacrom.com/1SHQP
    or
    https://uii.io/YRFfS
    or
    https://exe.io/ahAtF

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