Ester Mägi: Complete Songs for Female Voice Maarja Purga, Sten Lassmann, Mari-Liis Vind, Kirill Ogorodnikov, Valle-Rasmus Roots

• Ester Mägi (1922 - 2021): Five Romances:
• 1 Mägi: Five Romances: No. 1, How Could I Sleep 01:48
• 2 Mägi: Five Romances: No. 2, A Memory 01:34
• 3 Mägi: Five Romances: No. 3, Beach Swallow 02:54
• 4 Mägi: Five Romances: No. 4, Wind 01:44
• 5 Mägi: Five Romances: No. 5, The Onset of Happiness 01:50
• Two Romances:
• 6 Mägi: Two Romances: No. 1, Big and Silent 01:22
• 7 Mägi: Two Romances: No. 2, I have a Shelter under the Sky 02:15
• To the Swing!:
• 8 Mägi: To the Swing! 01:38
• Words Found a Lovely Melody:
• 9 Mägi: Words Found a Lovely Melody 03:32
• Leaves Were Falling:
• 10 Mägi: Leaves Were Falling 01:33
• A Snowflake:
• 11 Mägi: A Snowflake 01:32
• Cheating Old Nick:
• 12 Mägi: Cheating Old Nick 01:31
• White Ball:
• 13 Mägi: White Ball 03:02
• Two Songs to Words by Ernst Enno:
• 14 Mägi: Two Songs to Words by Ernst Enno: No. 1, Up There 02:20
• 15 Mägi: Two Songs to Words by Ernst Enno: No. 2, Bind the eyes! 02:48
• Songs on Poetry by Betti Alver:
• 16 Mägi: Songs on Poetry by Betti Alver: No. 1, Up There 02:37
• 17 Mägi: Songs on Poetry by Betti Alver: No. 2, Again and Again 02:21
• 18 Mägi: Songs on Poetry by Betti Alver: No. 3, The Birds Were Laughing 02:14
• Three Seto Fairytale Songs:
• 19 Mägi: Three Seto Fairytale Songs: No. 1, The Singing Tree 03:36
• 20 Mägi: Three Seto Fairytale Songs: No. 2, A Cradle Song 02:50
• 21 Mägi: Three Seto Fairytale Songs: No. 3, The Orphan of a Cuckoo 04:43
• Night Shades:
• 22 Mägi: Night Shades 04:43
• Two Songs for Mezzo-Soprano, Cello and Piano:
• 23 Mägi: Two Songs for Mezzo-Soprano, Cello and Piano: No. 1, Night 05:05
• 24 Mägi: Two Songs for Mezzo-Soprano, Cello and Piano: No. 2, With Eyes Closed 02:28
• The Marian Fern for Soprano, Flute and Piano:
• 25 Mägi: The Marian Fern for Soprano, Flute and Piano 03:48
• Herding Calls for Soprano, Flute and Guitar (Version for Mezzo-Soprano):
• 26 Mägi: Herding Calls for Soprano, Flute and Guitar (Version for Mezzo-Soprano) 09:55
• Songs from the Fields:
• 27 Mägi: Songs from the Fields: I. Moderato - 01:41
• 28 Mägi: Songs from the Fields: II. Andante tenuto - 01:31
• 29 Mägi: Songs from the Fields: III. Largo - 01:26
• 30 Mägi: Songs from the Fields: IV. Allegro - 00:58
• 31 Mägi: Songs from the Fields: V. Rubato - 01:17
• 32 Mägi: Songs from the Fields: VI. Allegro giocoso - 01:57
• Five Romances:
• 33 Mägi: Five Romances: No. 5, The Onset of Happiness (Arr. for Soprano and Guitar by Heiki Mätlik) 01:49
• The Marian Fern (Arr. for Soprano, Flute and Guitar by Heiki Mätlik):
• 34 Mägi: The Marian Fern (Arr. for Soprano, Flute and Guitar by Heiki Mätlik) 03:39
• Songs from the Fields:
• 35 Mägi: Songs from the Fields: I. Moderato - (Arr. for Soprano, Flute, Cello and Guitar by Heiki Mätlik) 08:29
• Total Runtime 01:38:30

Info for Ester Mägi: Complete Songs for Female Voice

For the latter part of her long life, Ester Mägi (1922–2021) was known as ‘the First Lady of Estonian music’, her modest, charming disposition endearing her to all who met her. But her music reveals the true strength of her personality, and this first complete recording of her songs for female voice – over half a century of compositional activity – covers a striking emotional range, from the ambivalent feelings of falling in love to dramatic ritual invocations of startling force and power. Many of the earlier songs are openly romantic, but Mägi soon began to tap into the hypnotic energy of Estonian runic folksong, with its echoes of village life and its incantations intended to placate a hostile environment.

Maarja Purga, mezzo-soprano
Valle-Rasmus Roots, cello
Mari-Liis Vind, flute
Kirill Ogorodnikov, guitar
Sten Lassmann, piano

Maarja Purga
completed her singing studies at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and at the Cologne University of Music and Dance under Lioba Braun, where she graduated with a Master of Music in July 2014. Her uniquely warm voice and wide range enable her to sing a large repertoire in the late romantic and bel canto periods. In the course of her still young career, she has devoted herself to opera as well as symphonic and sacred music. She gained her opera stage experience as Trude/landlady/fairy tale woman in S. Wagner's "An Allem ist Hütchen schuld" with the Bochum Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Lionel Friend, as Orlovksy as part of the Festival Klassik in The Hague and through the roles of Flora in "La Traviata" (Theater Solingen), Un Patre in Ravel's "L'enfant et les sortileges" (Theater Aachen), Cherubino from Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro" (Festival Kunst achter de raamen, Holland), and the 3rd Lady in Ernst Krenek's "Das Geheime Königreich" (HfMT Köln). Her most recent engagement took her to the Cologne Opera, where she took part in L. Janacek's "Tagebuch des Verschollenen" and G. Holst's "Savitri". She has also performed at festivals such as Ammerseerenade, Rotterdam Operadagen and at the Young Composers Meeting Apeldoorn. In the concert area, she was recently heard in the Estonian Philharmonic with the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra in G.F. Handel's “Dixit Dominus” and in W.A. Mozart's “Missa solmenis” with the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn. Under the direction of Prof. R. Schuhenn, she has performed several times in various sacred works, including the Verdi Requiem, Durufle Requiem and the Mass by I. Stravinsky. She took on the alto parts in the world premieres of P.H. Thielen's “Life of the Virgin Mary”, J.S. Bach's “Christmas Oratorio” and F. Mendelssohn's “Elias”. Her preference for vocal symphonic music is particularly noteworthy, which recently led her to interpret the “Song of the Earth” under the direction of M. Luig. Regular concert tours take her to Italy, Finland and Estonia, as well as to Switzerland and the Netherlands. She has also attended master classes at home and abroad with Dalia Schächter, Edda Moser, Ira Siff, Derek Lee Ragin and Annette Robbert and has sung under conductors such as Lionel Friend, Witolf Werner, Michael Luig, Peter Kuhn, Herbert Görtz, Reiner Schuhenn and Risto Joost. In 2016, her artistic work was recognized with the Richard Wagner Scholarship, awarded by the Richard Wagner Association Ammersee. In addition to singing, Maarja Purga also gives master classes for singers at the Bach Academy Stuttgart and the Estonian Music Academy, among others.

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