Esenvalds,Eiks / Ezeriete,Ieva / Paegle,Liga - Eiks Esenvalds: St. Luke Passion & Sacred Works - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

?Complete Works for Flute and Strings Vol. 3. Ferdinand Ries presents himself as a master of chamber music with the three extraordinarily imaginatively composed works on Vol. 3 of our edition of his complete works for flute and strings. On the one hand he is firmly rooted in the tradition of his great classical models. On the other hand he takes the step to a poetic musical worldview that by no means corresponded to the mainstream between 1815 and 1830. Some time before Novalis had written »The world must be romanticized.« Along with two more flute quartets designed very much in the classical style but also already displaying newer musical expressive forms, his only, highly emotional Flute Quintet op. 107 is heard here, a work composed by Ries in London in 1818. As in the great majority of flute quintets, it is scored with two violas, which results in a practically orchestral sound picture. The composer makes manifold use of the option of setting the stringed instruments in opposition to the flute. Nevertheless, the flute is treated as the equal partner of the stringed instruments, which all take part in the changing functions of solo and accompaniment. Here too the Ardinghellos offer »dialoguing that is finely heard out, trim playing with a minimum of vibrato, and the most careful, delightful phrasing« (klassik-heute of Vol. 3 in March 2019).

Wire exhibit little inclination to look back rather they remain resolutely focused on producing music which is smart, vital and defiantly modern Mind Hive is the group's first newly recorded material since 2017 's Silver/Lead That album garnered rave reviews and career best sales Yet, if Silver/Lead set the bar pretty high, Mind Hive seems to have no problem vaulting over it Be Like Them is a super angular composition, utilizing a recently rediscovered Wire lyric from 1977 Colin Newman and Matthew Simms' guitars constantly mesh and diverge, whilst the rhythm section ensures the song prowls forward with an unstoppable menace Cactused is the first of Mind Hive 's pop moments The vocal is wide eyed and wired, with effects heavy guitar work creating a bright web of noise, with the song's stop/start moments providing a series of precise energy bursts Primed And Ready rides out on a tightly pulsing synth sequence punctuated by icy slivers of guitar This is Wire at their most compressed yet propulsive Off The Beach is another prime pop song With it's breezy, optimistic melody, and blend of electric and acoustic guitars, the song initially sees the group seemingly celebrating the joys of everyday life but things are destined to turn a shade stranger Unrepentant explores the kind of bucolic soundscape early Pink Floyd would have been proud to call their own Boasting one of the album's finest texts, the song radiates out into a shimmering sonic heat haze Shadows pulls the classic Wire trick of placing a dark and cruel lyric in a musical setting of tender beauty Never has the recounting of atrocity been so seductively pitched Oklahoma is the muscular and dramatic joker in the pack Lewis' dark vocal swims through a rich compound of guitar textures and synth tones, building into a masterclass of tension and Hung is the album's centrepiece This 8 minute excursion matches a brief

The Akathistos Hymn to the Virgin Mary is a lyrical masterpiece in 24 stanzas that has been treasured for nearly 1,500 years by Eastern Christians. Father Ivan Moody's 1998 setting, composed specially for Cappella Romana, weaves beloved Greek melodies into Russian choral textures as it progresses from reverent contemplation to ecstatic transcendence. Vocal ensemble Cappella Romana combines passion with scholarship in it's exploration of early and contemporary music of the Christian East and West. It's name refers to the medieval Greek concept of the Roman oikoumene (inhabited world), which embraced Rome and Western Europe as well as the Byzantine Empire of Constantinople (InchNew RomeInch) and it's Slavic commonwealth. Inchpurity and radiance in perfect realizationsInch (Gramophone) InchThe sound is splendidInch (American Record Guide) Inchlight and warmth over an ancient musical groundInch (Willamette Week)