Renowned for its luminosity and searing expressiveness, the music of Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks frequently explores the relationship between nature and humanity, not least in the Flute Concerto (written for Michael Faust), which is among the most expansive of Vasks’ orchestral works. Abstract qualities in the Sonata contrast with the deftly defined lyrical and rhythmic elements of Aria e danza, while Landscape with Birds exploits the entirety of the flute’s timbral range.
“Vasks deserves to be better known. His colourful, dramatic music is well-served here by powerful orchestral work and sensitive playing by the soloists.” --BBC Music Magazine, Christmas Issue 2013 *****
“Flute Concerto proves that Vasks not only is one of the most prominent figures in the field of choral music, but also in the other classical segments (from instrumental concerts to chamber music and so on). You discover a composer who definitely has an advantage (a gift) compared to his colleagues in terms of inventive: perhaps in this collection the “spiritual” interest of symphonic/minimalistic compositions seems distant, but the gain is to be close to a sense of accomplished forms that, in some ways, is surprising.” --Percorsi Musicali, October 2013
