Pärt: Magnificat

Daniel Taylor is one of the world’s most sought after countertenors in the world and appears on over 100 recordings. Having made his debut at Glyndebourne, he followed it by participating in Jonathan Miller’s production of Handel’s Rodelinda.

In this latest release from Canadian label Analekta, Daniel performs a disc of ‘Ave Maria’s’ written by Caccini, Schubert, Byrd, von Bingen, Monteverdi and others, so provides a definitive disc of this repertoire performed by a world class singer.

Celebrating the serene mysticism of the music of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, this 2CD collection brings together his best known works (such as the ever-popular Spiegel im Spiegel) , with lesser known masterpieces (such as the haunting Burns setting My Heart’s in the Highlands).

Largely drawn from the Decca and Deutsche Grammophon catalogues, this collection includes seven brand new recordings with Nigel Short conducting the award-winning Tenebrae in Cantate Domino and the English Chamber Orchestra in orchestral works including the famous Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten – an outstanding example of Pärt’s ‘tintinnabulation’ style.

Nine sacred pieces by Arvo Pärt including some of his newest compositions alongside works from earlier in his career. Pärt's longtime collaborator and biographer Paul Hillier leads the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and organist Christopher Browers-Broadbent in a third recording devoted to the Estonian composer.

Chamber Choir Voces Musicales, Tallinn Sinfonietta / Risto Joost Chamber choir Voces Musicales was founded in 1999 by Risto Joost mainly from the students of the Estonian Academy of Music. Audiences received the choir well already during the first season, which was highlighted by prizes from several competitions. In April 2001, as a great acknowledgment Voces Musicales won 1st prize in the category of chamber choirs at the international choir competition Tallinn 2001. Success in the Tallinn choir competition was continued by another victory in 2005, when besides two 2nd prizes in minor categories the choir also won the Grand Prix.

The repertoire of the choir includes music from Renaissance polyphonies to contemporary compositions. Voces Musicales has been a guest performer at festivals in France, Israel and Finland and has participated in the performance of several oratorical works. The choir has premièred the compositions of several composers (Toivo Tulev, Helena Tulve, Timo Steiner, Ülo Krigul, etc). Voces Musicales has co-operated with conductors Neeme Järvi, Olari Elts, Arvo Volmer, Andres Mustonen, Jüri Alperten and orchestras such as the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Corelli Baroque Orchestra, NYYD Ensemble, Hortus Musicus, Pärnu City Orchestra. In autumn 2009, the choir celebrated their 10th anniversary with a jubilee concert.

Arvo Pärt has concentrated on setting religious texts, which have proved popular with choirs and ensembles around the world. Among his champions in the West have been ECM Records who released the first recordings of Pärt’s music outside the Soviet bloc, Hilliard Ensemble who have premièred several of the vocal works, and Neeme Järvi who conducted the première of Credo in Tallinn in 1968, and has, as well as recording the tintinnabuli pieces, introduced Pärt’s earlier compositions through performances and recordings.

A new and intriguing sampler features a selection of pieces from Hyperion’s extensive and varied choral collection. This disc seeks to give a flavour of the contemporary choral music recorded by Hyperion over the last decade. Whilst on one level it can stand alone as a tribute to the beauty of its composers’ writing and choirs’ singing, it also lifts the lid on the albums from which the tracks are drawn. A perfect introduction to the magic new worlds of sound that await the listener.