Volume 9 Issue 3 - November 2003

music of Part) with the Tallinn
Chamber Orchestra.
In their second recording together,
"The Powers of Heaven," Paul Hillier
leads the Estonian Philharmonic
Chamber Choir through a selection
of sacred choral masterworks from
the Slavic Orthodox tradition of the
17th & 18th Centuries, sung in their
original language.
The title track, Now the Powers
of Heaven, by Giuseppe Sarti ( 1729-
1802) is a tour de force for the formidable
talents of this choir. Their
rich full-bodied tone, powers of declamation,
and surprising dynamic
range make it hard to believe that
this is really only a "chamber" choir
of about 28 in number.
. When Baldassare Galuppi ( 1706-
1785) was invited by Peter the Great
to visit Russia, he brought with him
his Venetian style and form which
had a great influence on Sarti and
also Dmitry Bortniansky (17 51-
1825), one of the most prolific composers
of this Orthodox repertoire.
Jn the Flesh Thou Didst Fall Asleep
by Galuppi clearly illustrates the
"Western" musical concepts. Several
other pieces by Bortniansky demonstrate
an adoption ofWestemharmonic
conventions and style, drawing
musical parallels to music of the
Venetian masters.
This is clearly a virtuoso choir
under the masterful direction of Paul
Hillier.
Frank Nakashima
Concert Note: Sound.streams Canada
presents Paul Hillier and the
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber
Choir in two Toronto performances
this month. On November 7 they will
present a program of contemporary
sacred music from the Ba/tics by
Patt, Tormis, Kreek, Norgard and
Sisask. On November 9 they will join
the Elmer /seler Singers and director
Lydia Adams in the North American
premiere of Henryk Gorec.ki 's
monumental cantata Salve, Sidus
Polonarum, works by Canadian
composers Melissa Hui and Craig
Galbraith, plus music from the
Russian Orthodox tradition.
now, 15 quartets again with the
Borodin Quartet but with one
important difference: Rostislav
Dubinsky, their founder and first
violin had left and been replaced by
Mikhail Kopelman.
A few years ago at the Summer
Festival in Round Top, Texas we
had the pleasure of spending several
evenings with Dubinsky and his
pianist wife, Luba Edlina, who were
then also faculty members of the
music department at Indiana
University. He spoke quite freely and
as we talked about the Shostakovich
Quartets it was clear that he had a
special closeness with the composer
and with these works. Dubinsky was
more than a contemporary, a
colleague, a friend. He understood.
How else can one explain the spirit
of these performances, how one can
hear right through to the composer
without the musicians getting in the
way? In their hands Shostakovich's
dots on the stave lines become completely
comprehensible and Music is
confirmed as the international language.
·
The original Borodin Quartet was
one of the very finest of its time,
playing with absolute security and,
where called for, alarming intensity
or the utmost delicacy. ,
This is such an important set because
it is also a documept of the
performing traditions at the time. It
should be part of any chamber music
or Shostakovich collection.
Bruce Surtees
Canadian Premieres
The Gryphon Trio
Analekta FL 2 3174
Shostakovich String Quartets
Borodin Quartet
Chandos CHAN 10064
When these Melodyia recordings first
appeared here in June 1974 on six
LPs from EMI, they comprised Shostakovich's
complete quartets as the
last two had not yet been written.
Barelo/ had these been released when
Melodyia began recording the, by
Toronto's esteemed Gryphon Trio
has a long-standing interest in Canadian
repertoire that has not previously
been represented in their recordings
N O VEMBER 1 - D ECEMBER 7 2003 .
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