De Profundis

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Release Date
DescriptionExcerpt

De Profundis features 12 pieces from the performing repertoire of Gidon Kremer, whom the Boston Globe calls "one of the most important violinists before the public today." The composers represented here span nearly two centuries, from Schubert to Schnittke for an album that "plays through like a fascinating mix tape, with a surprise around every corner," says NPR. "It's fantastic."

Description

Nonesuch Records released Grammy Award–winning violinist Gidon Kremer’s De Profundis, featuring the Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra, on September 14, 2010. The album’s 12 pieces, selected from Kremer’s performing repertoire, all hold very special meaning to him, and are connected to each other on a deep, intuitive level.

The composers, whose works span nearly two centuries, are: Jean Sibelius, Arvo Pärt, Raminta Šerkšnytė (whose piece, De Profundis, lends the album its title), Robert Schumann, Michael Nyman, Franz Schubert, Stevan Kovacs Tickmayer, Dmitri Shostakovich, Lera Auerbach, Astor Piazzolla, Georgs Pelecis, and Alfred Schnittke.

Kremer explains: “The artists featured on this record affirm a deep-rooted personal expression that can resonate within anyone. Their spiritual missive can sustain humans by appealing to their profoundest emotions, by letting them open up, become more conscious, rather than ‘forget themselves.’ Each of the 12 pieces selected for this album sends its own individual message to the listener, one that my colleagues from Kremerata Baltica and I have tried to illuminate.”

Gidon Kremer dedicates De Profundis to all those who refuse to be silenced, “namely to Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who—being a real patriot of Russia—can be seen as a symbol for democratic changes in his home country. Khodorkovsky continues to spend years of imprisonment in Siberia, where he has been sent by a questionable trial.” (Arvo Pärt dedicated his fourth symphony, Los Angeles, to Khodorkovsky as well.)

Kremerata Baltica was founded by Gidon Kremer in 1996 and is composed of a group of young musicians from the three Baltic States. They first performed in the violinist’s hometown of Riga, Latvia, in February 1996 and have since toured throughout the world. Kremer, who is the group’s artistic director, described the Kremerata Baltica, in an interview with the New York Times, as “a musical democracy ... open-minded, self-critical, a continuation of my musical spirit.”

ProductionCredits

PRODUCTION CREDITS
Produced by Helmut Mühle
Recorded December 8–11, 2008, at Latvian Radio, Riga*
Recording Engineer: Varis Kurmins*
Editing: Johannes Müller
Mastering Engineer: Christoph Stickel
*except Schnittke’s Fragment, recorded October 23, 2001, at Recording Studio, Riga
Recording Engineer: Niels Foelster
Editing: Gudrun Maurer

Design by Barbara deWilde
Photography from the series Soul of Fuel by Alexandra Kremer-Khomassouridze

Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz

Nonesuch Selection Number

287228

Number of Discs in Set
1disc
Album Status
Artist Name
Gidon Kremer
Kremerata Baltica
MusicianDetails

MUSICIANS
Gidon Kremer, solo violin and artistic director

Kremerata Baltica:
Violin: Eva Bindere, Sandis Steinbergs, Dzeraldas Bidva, Rasa Vosyliute-Mickuniene, Migle Diksaitiene, Sanita Zarina, Jana Ozolina, Andrejs Golikovs, Andrei Valigura, Agne Doveikaite, Migle Serapinaite, Monta Vermane, Lasma Taimina
Viola: Daniil Grishin, Ula Ulijona Zebriunaite, Vidas Vekerotas, Zita Zemovica
Cello: Marta Sudraba, Eriks Kirsfelds, Giedre Dirvanauskaite, Peteris Cirksis
Double Bass: Danielis Rubinas, Indrek Sarrap
Percussion: Andrei Pushkarev

with
Clarinet: Mate Bekovac, Fabio Di Casola (1)

Cover Art
UPC/Price
Label
MP3
Price
9.00
UPC
075597996982
  • 287228

News & Reviews

  • Congratulations to violinist Gidon Kremer, who has been named the 2016 Praemium Imperiale Laureate in Music. The award is presented by the Japan Art Association in Tokyo to honor artists who have contributed significantly to the development of international arts and culture. The 2016 laureates in other fields are Cindy Sherman, Annette Messager, Paulo Mendes da Rocha, and Martin Scorsese. Past music laureates include Philip Glass, Steve Reich, and Leonard Bernstein. Each laureate receives 15 million yen ($146,000); a medal will be presented by Prince Hitachi in a ceremony held in Tokyo on October 18, 2016.

  • The Royal Conservatory's Koerner Hall in Toronto has announced its 2014–15 concert season, the organization's sixth anniversary season, which will feature performances from several artists familiar to readers of the Nonesuch Journal: Jeremy Denk, Richard Goode, and Natalie Merchant, making their Koerner Hall debuts, and a return visit from Gidon Kremer. Tickets are on sale now.

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  • About This Album

    Nonesuch Records released Grammy Award–winning violinist Gidon Kremer’s De Profundis, featuring the Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra, on September 14, 2010. The album’s 12 pieces, selected from Kremer’s performing repertoire, all hold very special meaning to him, and are connected to each other on a deep, intuitive level.

    The composers, whose works span nearly two centuries, are: Jean Sibelius, Arvo Pärt, Raminta Šerkšnytė (whose piece, De Profundis, lends the album its title), Robert Schumann, Michael Nyman, Franz Schubert, Stevan Kovacs Tickmayer, Dmitri Shostakovich, Lera Auerbach, Astor Piazzolla, Georgs Pelecis, and Alfred Schnittke.

    Kremer explains: “The artists featured on this record affirm a deep-rooted personal expression that can resonate within anyone. Their spiritual missive can sustain humans by appealing to their profoundest emotions, by letting them open up, become more conscious, rather than ‘forget themselves.’ Each of the 12 pieces selected for this album sends its own individual message to the listener, one that my colleagues from Kremerata Baltica and I have tried to illuminate.”

    Gidon Kremer dedicates De Profundis to all those who refuse to be silenced, “namely to Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who—being a real patriot of Russia—can be seen as a symbol for democratic changes in his home country. Khodorkovsky continues to spend years of imprisonment in Siberia, where he has been sent by a questionable trial.” (Arvo Pärt dedicated his fourth symphony, Los Angeles, to Khodorkovsky as well.)

    Kremerata Baltica was founded by Gidon Kremer in 1996 and is composed of a group of young musicians from the three Baltic States. They first performed in the violinist’s hometown of Riga, Latvia, in February 1996 and have since toured throughout the world. Kremer, who is the group’s artistic director, described the Kremerata Baltica, in an interview with the New York Times, as “a musical democracy ... open-minded, self-critical, a continuation of my musical spirit.”

    Credits

    MUSICIANS
    Gidon Kremer, solo violin and artistic director

    Kremerata Baltica:
    Violin: Eva Bindere, Sandis Steinbergs, Dzeraldas Bidva, Rasa Vosyliute-Mickuniene, Migle Diksaitiene, Sanita Zarina, Jana Ozolina, Andrejs Golikovs, Andrei Valigura, Agne Doveikaite, Migle Serapinaite, Monta Vermane, Lasma Taimina
    Viola: Daniil Grishin, Ula Ulijona Zebriunaite, Vidas Vekerotas, Zita Zemovica
    Cello: Marta Sudraba, Eriks Kirsfelds, Giedre Dirvanauskaite, Peteris Cirksis
    Double Bass: Danielis Rubinas, Indrek Sarrap
    Percussion: Andrei Pushkarev

    with
    Clarinet: Mate Bekovac, Fabio Di Casola (1)

    PRODUCTION CREDITS
    Produced by Helmut Mühle
    Recorded December 8–11, 2008, at Latvian Radio, Riga*
    Recording Engineer: Varis Kurmins*
    Editing: Johannes Müller
    Mastering Engineer: Christoph Stickel
    *except Schnittke’s Fragment, recorded October 23, 2001, at Recording Studio, Riga
    Recording Engineer: Niels Foelster
    Editing: Gudrun Maurer

    Design by Barbara deWilde
    Photography from the series Soul of Fuel by Alexandra Kremer-Khomassouridze

    Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz

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