Pärt: Triodion & other choral works

A new release from Polyphony, with Stephen Layton at the helm, always brings with it an assurance of singing of the highest possible calibre. Bring together a choir of such quality and the composer responsible for some of the most beautiful, transcendent music ever written, and the resultant disc is surely what must be one of, if not the most spectacular releases of the year.

New works from Arvo Pärt are invariably cherished, and this disc contains no fewer than five world premiere recordings—Dopo la vittoria, Nunc dimittis, Littlemore Tractus, My heart's in the Highlands and Salve Regina. It was recorded in the presence of the enraptured composer earlier this year at the Temple Church, London.

This is a disc of achingly lovely music at its most mesmeric—prepare to be stunned.

CDA67375  77 minutes 23 seconds
BEST IN CHORAL CATEGORY - GRAMOPHONE AWARDS 2004
TOP 20 DISCS OF 2003 (BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE/BBC RADIO 3 CD REVIEW)
DISC OF THE MONTH (BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE)
EDITOR'S CHOICE (GRAMOPHONE)
BEST BUY, OPERA AND VOCAL (CLASSIC FM MAGAZINE)
DISC OF THE FORTNIGHT (MUSIC WEEK)
ALBUM OF THE WEEK (BBCi)
CD REVIEW CRITICS' CHOICE 2003 (BBC RADIO 3)
‘A triumph … warm melodies and bursts of colourful chords … sublime, ethereal beauty … Polyphony's is a gorgeous performance’ (Gramophone)
‘More than any other composer alive today, Arvo Pärt has given us back the idea of eloquent, beautiful simplicity … Stephen Layton and Polyphony seem to have found an ideal balance of intensity a ...
‘The singing on this disc is little short of stunning: Polyphony's sense of ensemble is second to none, and conductor Stephen Layton paces these works with an unerring sense of Pärt's instinctive fee ...