Anne Midgette wrote in The Washington Post on March 3rd about the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir concert directed by Tõnu Kaljuste.
The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir opened its concert on March 2nd, with a simple iteration of seven notes (do, re, mi, etc) over and over, that wallowed in the pregnant potential of ambiguity, a foreshadowing and preparation of music-making to come, without any words at all. The piece was called “Solfeggio” written by Arvo Pärt, and it set the tone for an evening of music that balanced emotional directness with technical mastery.
The chorus stood around the nave of the National City Christian Church, surrounding the audience, and following the clear hand gestures of their director, the charismatic Tõnu Kaljuste. “Do” came from the women at the front of the church, “re” from the men at the back of it, and each section continued to chime in, at different volumes and in different octaves, each note overlapping with the note next to it, and sometimes with two or three at once, to create a small halo of dissonance, while the music continued up and up and up in an unbroken spiral of notes until it was finally silence, on “do”, by the closing of Kaljuste’s hand.
Read more here.
