Kriikku/Finnish Radio So
Clarinet Concertos [ Ondine / CD - released 20/Nov/2000 ] |
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOSVKY
Tchaikovsky: All Night Vigil / Sacred Choral Works Latvian Radio Choir, Sigvards Klava [ Ondine / CD - released 1/May/2020 ] The All-Night Vigil Op. 52 for mixed choir, also known as the Vesper Service, was written between May 1881 and March 1882. |
VALENTIN SILVESTROV
Silvestrov: To Thee We Sing: Sacred Choral Works Kārlis Rūtentāls (tenor) Agata Burkina (sop) Rūdolfs Bērtiņš (tenor) / Latvian Radio Choir, Sigvards Klava [ Ondine SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 25/Oct/2015 ] "an astonishing richness which invites repeated listening. It has the effect of a healing balm and I cannot recommend it too highly for those who require restoration from life's vicissitudes." Gramophone Magazine: Editor's Choice - October 2015 |
Krzysztof Bakowski, Violin, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Wit
Lutoslawski-Funeral Music for Strings, Chain II: Dialogue for Violin & Orch + [ Naxos / CD - released 20/Aug/2001 ] one of the greatest 20th-century Polish music artists |
PROKOFIEV
Eternal Prokofiev Kun Woo Paik, Bernd Glemser (pianos) Tedi Papavrami (violin) / Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra / Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra [ Naxos / CD - released 20/Aug/2008 ] Prokofiev, himself a formidable pianist, completed nine piano sonatas out of a projected eleven. His music for piano also includes piano versions of music from the ballets Romeo and Juliet and Cinderella. |
SERGEI PROKOFIEV
Prokofiev: Piano Concertos Nos 1, 3 & 5 Kun Woo Pak (piano) / Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Antoni Wit [ Naxos / CD ] "Kun Woo Paik's playing throughout these five concertos has exhilarating bravura...with vivid recording in the Concert Hall of Polish Radio, which has plenty of ambience, this set is enormously stimulating and a remarkable bargain" Penguin Guide |
JULIEN JOUBERT
Joubert: Nous n'irons pas à l'Opéra / Aimez-vous Bach ? La Maîtrise de Radio France, Sofi Jeannin [ Formations Musicales De Radio France / CD - released 1/May/2020 ] |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7, "Leningrad" Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava), Ladislav Slovák [ Naxos / CD ] "So congratulations (again) to Naxos. The real Shostakovich cognoscenti may be mildly disappointed here and there, but even they will be gripped more often than not by these committed and well recorded performances" ABC Radio |
PETERIS VASKS
Choir Music Latvian Radio Choir conducted by Sigvards Klava and Kaspars Putnins [ BIS / CD - released 26/Nov/2001 ] Peteris Vasks is the Arvo Pärt of Latvia and thus something of a cult figure in his country. Like the music of Pärt, and for that matter of Tavener, Vasks's works have a distinctly spiritual dimension, obvious in this collection of his choral music.... |
JONATHAN HARVEY
Choral Works (Incls 'Ashes Dance Back') Latvian Radio Choir, Kaspars Putnins, James Wood, conductors [ Hyperion / CD - released 10/Mar/2011 ] "both Ashes and Awakening are visionary pieces, and have the makings of modern masterpieces. They require, and will undoubtedly repay, repeated listening. A magnificent disc, superbly performed and recorded, and a magnificent argument for the... |
ARVO PART
Part: Da Pacem Domine Latvian Radio Choir, Sigvards Klava [ Ondine / CD - released 1/Sep/2015 ] "Marvellous throughout. I can't imagine this music better sung." (MusicWeb) |
SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: Liturgy of St John Chrysostom Latvian Radio Choir, Sigvards Klava [ Ondine SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 10/Jul/2010 ] "Normally you'd run a mile from music recorded in the reverberant acoustics of a cathedral. But not in this case...the music - reverent, restrained and slow-moving -suits this fine performance in Riga's Dome Cathedral." The Telegraph, 23rd April 2010 *** |
KRZYSZTOF PENDERECKI
Penderecki: Sacred Choral Works Latvian Radio Choir, Sigvards Klava [ Ondine / CD - released 26/Jan/2024 ] "These utterly fearless unaccompanied singers bring precision to the most complex textures while retaining a palpable grasp of the music's emotional heart, imbuing it with an engaging sense of wonder." Five Stars BBC Music Recording of the Month |
PETERIS VASKS
Peteris Vasks: Plainscapes Latvian Radio Choir, Sigvards Klava [ Ondine / CD - released 20/Nov/2012 ] "Plainscapes...Although almost too harrowingly beautiful to listen to, I do recommend this magical piece, which together with its companions is performed with consummate perfection by this outstanding body of singers." (Gramophone) |
GEORGY SVIRIDOV
Sviridov: Canticles and Prayers Latvian Radio Choir, Sigvards Klava [ Ondine / CD - released 8/Jul/2016 ] "This is a beautiful selection of Sviridov's choral music. There is a subtlety to phrasing of the Latvian Radio Choir's performance of the Trisagion, for example, that often eludes Russian and Ukrainian choirs." Gramophone |
SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Tchaikovsky: Liturgy of St John Chrysostom Latvian Radio Choir, Sigvards Klava [ Ondine / CD - released 20/Jan/2020 ] "The atmosphere and context - music as extraordinary religious expression - is magisterially conveyed here by a choir on top form, with sound engineering that captures them perfectly...In addition the choir's diction is superb." Gramophone |
SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: Vespers, Op. 37 [All-Night Vigil] Latvian Radio Choir, Sigvards Klava [ Ondine / CD - released 1/Dec/2012 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD FINALIST 2013: Choral |
JOHN CAGE
Cage: Choral Works Latvian Radio Choir, Sigvards Klava (conductor) [ Ondine / CD - released 19/Aug/2022 ] "one is unsurprised by the unconventionality but taken aback by the richness and variety of the final musical result. It must be said as well that the singers sound as though they are enjoying themselves enormously." Gramophone Award WINNER 2023 |
PETERIS VASKS
Vasks: Laudate Dominum Latvian Radio Choir & Sinfonietta Riga, Sigvards Kļava, with Ilze Reine (organ) [ Ondine / CD - released 1/Jul/2018 ] This release includes new works written by Peteris Vasks (b. 1946), internationally the most well-known composer from Latvia, performed by his compatriots, the Latvian Radio Choir and Sinfonietta Riga under the direction of Sigvards Klava. During the... |
PETERIS VASKS
Vasks: Pater noster / Dona nobis pacem / etc Latvian Radio Choir / Sinfonietta Riga / Sigvards Klava [ Ondine / CD - released 14/Dec/2007 ] "...superb performances: clear, perfectly paced, beautifully balanced, sumptuously textured, with just the right pitch of emotion." BBC Music Magazine, September 2007 |