RENÉ EESPERE (b.1953): Epigrams: I and II for Tenor and Chamber Orchestra, IV-VI for Soprano and Chamber Orchestra, III and VII for Baritone and Chamber Orchestra, Invocatio for Baritone, Mixed Choir and Chamber Orchestra, Mater Rosæ for Mixed Choir and Chamber Orchestra.

Description: Here's something you don't run across very often: seven Latin epigrams (Seneca, Ovid, possibly Martial and four anonymous from the early Christian era) set for operatic voice and orchestra in this Estonian composer's eclectic (a bit of Impressionism, a dash of Orff, a whiff of sacred music), utterly approachable style. They're all in the 4-6 minute range. The coupling is a 15-minute piece with a much longer Latin text by a living Estonian Classics professor and a seven-minute choral-orchestral parable of love returns to a medieval codex for its text. Latin-English texts. François Soulet (tenor), Jelena Voznesenskaya (soprano), Sauli Tiilikainen, René Soom (baritones), Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra; Risto Joost.