Baltic Voices 2

It was a long time ago since I purchased the first volume of the Baltic Voices series with Paul Hillier and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir; it was thus with great enthusiasm that I purchased Vol. 2, and my expectations were enthusiastically met. I can wholeheartedly second reviewer J D Wilder's positive review, and would recommend any person who appreciates choral music in all its forms to obtain this CD.

My favorites are the Winter Hymn, the Grigorjeva and the Schnittke selections, though the other tracks featured on this disc deserve acclaim just as much, if only for the fact that the choir performs indefatigably throughout! If you are looking for choir music that emulates a variety of moods and never really ceases to be ethereal and relaxing, I highly recommend this CD. And if you have started with Vol. 1 of the series, the purchase of this CD is practically not up for debate.

The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir with Paul Hillier was memorable in the first Baltic Voices recording, so it would be hard to say that they have outdone themselves, but they have come close. They have discovered many composers-many very worthy composers-to the world in this recording. The Choir is brilliant and the very talented Mr. Hillier puts them to excellent use. They can make anything sound good, but with this music, they almost don't need to try. The music by Galina Grigorjeva was the most stunning, but I also found the Schnittke delightful. These two recordings are for anyone who wants to hear the beautiful things going on in modern choral music.