Latvijas Radio Koris
Sigvards Kļava, conductor
Friday, 22 September 2017, 20.00 hours.
Sveta Gora, Basilica of St Mary
Programme:
Peteris Vasks: Mother Sun
Henry Purcell / Sven-David Sandström: Hear my Prayer, Oh Lord
Ēriks Ešenvalds: A Drop in the Ocean
Per Nørgård: Wiigen-Lied from Wie ein Kind
Arvo Pärt: Virgencita
Einojuhani Rautavaara: Die erste Elegie
Valentin Silvestrov: Two Christmas Lullabies:
Sleep, Jesus
Quiet Night
Pēteris Vasks: Our Mother’s Names
The Latvian Radio Choir ranks among the top professional chamber choirs in Europe.
They have been praised for their refined taste in programming, expressive finesse,
polished technique and magical choral sound, earning them world renown. Since 1992,
the choir has had two conductors: music director and principal conductor Sigvards Kļava,
and permanent conductor Kaspars Putniņš, who established the choir in 1994. Their
repertoire consists mostly of contemporary music. In addition to regularly performing
music by Luciano Berio, Iannis Xenakis, Kaija Saariaho and Giacinto Scelsi they have
also given the premieres of many new works. As true ambassadors of their culture,
they always include works by Latvian and other Baltic composers in their concerts.
The Latvian Radio Choir often enjoys the challenge of participating in projects that
require not only outstanding singing, but also excellent acting skills, like War Sum Up and Neo-Arctic, coproductions with Denmark’s theatre group Hotel Pro Forma which were staged in Europe and America.