Baltic Voices 3 (2005)

Listeners who have already heard Paul Hillier and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir's previous two releases in their Baltic Voices series for Harmonia Mundi will know what to expect: brilliantly conducted, superbly sung, and superlatively recorded performances of virtually unknown contemporary choral music from the nations bordering the Baltic. For those listeners, no further recommendation is necessary; indeed, the mere thought of CD premieres of works by Kaija Saariaho, Erkki-Sven Tüür, and Henryk Górecki will be ... Read More

Listeners who have already heard Paul Hillier and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir's previous two releases in their Baltic Voices series for Harmonia Mundi will know what to expect: brilliantly conducted, superbly sung, and superlatively recorded performances of virtually unknown contemporary choral music from the nations bordering the Baltic. For those listeners, no further recommendation is necessary; indeed, the mere thought of CD premieres of works by Kaija Saariaho, Erkki-Sven Tüür, and Henryk Górecki will be enough to get them out of their chairs and into the stores. For everyone else, however, a word or two of warning might be necessary. For one thing, while some of these works are quite infectious -- who could help but get down in the groove with Vaclovas Augustinas The stomping bride? -- some of these works are quite disturbing -- who but the hardest of the hardcore post-modernists could help but want to leave the room when Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen's abrasive Statements comes on? For... Read Less