£16 post free World-wide   555 sonatas 9Cds mp3 files Only £22   Benjamin: Written on Skin £16

BUY NOW  CD Crotchet   AmazonUK   AmazonUS SACD Crotchet   AmazonUK   AmazonUS DVD-Audio Crotchet   AmazonUK   AmazonUS

Arvo PÄRT (b.1935) Psalm 95, "Cantate Domino Canticum Novum..." (1996) [3.27] Berliner Messe (1992) [22.56] De Profundis (1980) [5.56] Summa (1977) [4.40] The beatitudes (1991) [7.51] Magnificat (1989) [7.22] Elora Festival Singers and Orchestra/Noel Edison Jurgen Petrenko, organ Recorded at Grace Church, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 25 May 2003. Notes in English and Deutsch. Recorded in 44/24 5.1 channel sound, also encoded in AC-3 and dts. DVD-Audio also playable on DVD-Video Players. Not playable on CD players. NAXOS 5.110052 [52.12]

Comparison Recordings: De Profundis, Summa. Davies, Stuttgart RSO, Hilliard Ensemble ECM 831959 When the Hilliard Ensemble perform Pärt they manage to imbue each single note with a special intensity and build the whole toward a radiant climax. Alex Ross writing in, of course, ‘New Yorker’, reported on a Berlin performance of this Berliner Mass in the presence of the composer; a performance that was rivetingly exciting every moment. That is not quite what we have here, but what we do have is still top drawer. Here the performers go more for serene reverence than for anguish or excitement. The Cantate Domino is sprightly, invoking a British medieval kind of joy. The Beatitudes (to an English text) conclude with a series of big organ chords with deep pedal notes that come through clearly only on the DVD-Audio tracks and the dts tracks, but not so well on the AC-3 tracks. The De Profundis appropriately enough features the chorus basses with deep organ notes, bells, and gong which, again, come through best on the DVD-Audio tracks and dts tracks. The rear channel tracks are very low in volume so this is a dry, front-balanced surround sound recording with little sense of space. The chorus’s sibilants resonate slightly but do not echo in the space of the church. Paul Shoemaker see also review by Jonathan Woolf (SACD) Gerard Hoffnung CDs Advertising on Musicweb Donate and get a free CD New Releases   Musicweb sells the following labels Acte Préalable Arcodiva Avie British Music Soc. CDAccord Hallé Hortus Lyrita Nimbus Northern Flowers Redcliffe Sheva Tactus Talent Toccata Classics Follow us on Twitter Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter

Return to Index

Reviews from previous months Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.