SOFIA GUBAIDULINA : Canticle of the Sun (Gidon Kremer · Kremerata Baltica) (2012) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Sofia Gubaidulina doesn't designate either of the pieces on this recording as concertos even though they feature a solo and ensemble, and that logic is evident in the sound of the music itself, which integrates the soloists organically into its texture and structure. Gubaidulina is unquestionably a modernist and employs a wide spectrum of contemporary techniques, but she is also a mystic, so her music tends to convey a striving for transcendence that's expressed in luminous warmth. She wrote The Lyre of Orpheus for violin, percussion, and string orchestra for Gidon Kremer and Kremerata Baltica, who deliver a radiant, shimmering performance. In her notes on the piece, Gubaidulina deals only with her somewhat arcane strategies for deriving pitches and chords, but the music itself glows with timbral ingenuity and sweetness, and almost inevitably invites the listener to call to mind the poignancy of the myth of Orpheus. She does not mention it in the notes, but she wrote the piece as a memorial to her daughter, which certainly accounts for the music's intense depth of feeling. The Canticle of the Sun for cello, chamber choir, percussion, and celesta was dedicated to Mstislav Rostropovich, who gave its premiere in 1998. The unique orchestration gives it an atmosphere of luminous, ethereal mystery. She wanted to pay tribute to the cellist's famously sunny disposition, and it has sections that make one of her most exuberant works; the cello sends major chords rocketing through the first movement and there is a furiously powerful roar of ecstasy at the end of the second movement. The piece ends in the major, in an exquisitely delicate filigree of interwoven lines. Nicolas Altstaedt gives a distinguished, deeply committed performance, and the Riga Chamber Choir "Kamer…" sings with lustrous tone. ECM's sound is perfectly clean, realistic, and beautifully balanced. Stephen Eddins
Tracklist :
1     The Lyre of Orpheus 23:41
Sofia Gubaidulina
Orchestra – Kremerata Baltica
Violin – Gidon Kremer
Violoncello – Marta Sudraba
The Canticle of the Sun
Celesta – Rostislav Krimer
Choir – Riga Chamber Choir "Kamēr..."
Conductor – Māris Sirmais
Lyrics By – St. Francis Of Assisi
Percussion – Andrei Pushkarev
Violoncello – Nicolas Altstaedt
Vocal Percussion – Rihards Zaļupe    
2     Glorification of the Creator, and His Creations: the Sun and the Moon 10:13
Sofia Gubaidulina
3     Glorification of the Creator, the Maker of the Four Elements: Air, Water, Fire and Earth 13:20
Sofia Gubaidulina
4     Glorification of Life 14:29
Sofia Gubaidulina
5     Glorification of Death 7:23
Sofia Gubaidulina