The Music of Arvo Pärt

A celebration of one of the towering figures of contemporary music—plus the premieres of two new Canadian works.

Arvo Pärt’s compositions are renowned world-wide for their ethereal beauty and profound spirituality. Two recent choral and orchestral masterpieces, both based on sacred texts, were at the centre of this concert: in Adam’s Lament, the first man’s grief at his expulsion from Paradise expands into a gorgeous meditation upon the sorrows of all humankind, while L’abbé Agathon recounts the legend of a fourth-century hermit tested by an angel in disguise.

Pärt’s fellow Estonian and long-time collaborator Tõnu Kaljuste conducted Choir 21 and string orchestra in a program featuring soprano Shannon Mercer, baritone Geoffrey Sirett, and world premieres of Open RoadJames Rolfe and Ave Maria by Riho Maimets.