Gloriae Dei Cantores sing the music of Arvo Pärt

ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Arvo Pärt came across the story of the fourth century Christian hermit Agathon, who lived alone in the Egyptian desert. Agathon met a leper who tested his Christian mettle through a series of tests. Once Agathon met the challenge, the leper revealed himself as an angel of God, and Agathon was blessed. Thus the story goes that inspired Estonian composer to pen his L’Abbé Agathon, a choral work that adopts some characteristics from Opera, some from Oratorio, and which creates in its own unique manner a compelling musical narrative featured in a new NAXOS release of Arvo Pärt choral music by the extraordinarily gifted Gloriae Dei Cantores in their very own label.

The album – available on several platforms –  also includes five other works by the Estonian master. An ethereal hymn to the Virgin mother, Salve Regina and an intensely emotional Magnificat, a heartfelt Nunc dimitis, and the closing Stabat Mater, a celebratory choral-instrumental paean to Mary exemplify the compositional breadth and depth of Arvo Pärt, an iconic 20th century musical genius who has traversed from an early career dalliance with Atonalism to a sui generis mature aesthetic he termed Tintinnabulation  whose roots grow out of Medieval Chant and Renaissance Polyphony.

Pärt’s compositions are impeccably sung by the Gloriae Dei Cantores: immaculately musical, pure of tone, perfect of diction, the superb ensemble is powerfully led by Richard K. Pugsley in an album that should provide the listener, as it did me, with a quiet hour of utterly peaceful music.

Rafael de Acha  www.RafaelMusicNotes.com

Published by ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Rafael de Acha has enjoyed a distinguished career in the arts as a performer, stage director, producer, and educator. He was born and grew up in Cuba. At the age of 17 he moved to the United States to study Drama at the University of Minnesota, and later Languages at L.A. City College, Music at the Juilliard School of Music, at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, and at the New England Conservatory of Music, from which he received the Master's degree. He has taught courses on the History of Music at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and at Florida International University, and contributed writings and reviews to Seen and Heard International (www.seenandheard-international.com ) and to this blog. He co-founded the award-winning New Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida, where he produced and staged twenty seasons of classical and contemporary theater, including fifty world premieres of plays that went on to have international and national productions on and off Broadway, including Ana in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz (Pulitzer Prize for Drama 2002 and Tony Nomination 2003.) In 2006 he was presented with a citation from The Dade County Cultural Affairs Council for “trailblazing contributions to the arts in South Florida.”

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