Orchestral Music

Chronique

Many listeners, when thinking of Estonian composers, may come up with the names of Arvo Pärt and perhaps Eduard Tubin, but the works of Ester Mägi are largely unknown to orchestras and audiences in the Western hemisphere. This CD, featuring almost exclusively first releases in the west, brings listeners a small taste of her rather large repertoire. Like Bartók, Mägi's music infuses a great deal of folk music (in this case, Estonian folk music) into art music forms. The folk components are at times very subtle (much of the piano concerto) and at times much more assertive, as in Bukoolika. While the compositions themselves are quite fine and absolutely deserving of attention, this particular recording does not do a lot to gain Mägi any fans. The sound quality throughout is sub par, with the orchestra sounding rather distant and muddy. There are frequent ensemble problems where downbeats do not line up precisely and articulations do not match across the sections. Intonation is not a tremendous problem, but it is slightly off throughout. The performance of the piano concerto seems rather sloppy on the part of orchestra and soloist alike. Still, it could be hoped that this minimal exposure to Mägi's works will be enough to encourage superior performances of her compositions

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