The Guardian – Andrew Clements – More than 35 years separated Arvo Pärt's first three symphonies from the fourth, first performed last year by Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Salonen brought it to Britain with the Philharmonia, surrounding the premiere with superbly performed 20th-century works: Mosolov's raucously brassy piece of Soviet constructivism, The Foundry, Ravel's Left-Hand Concerto, with Jean-Efflam Bavouzet as the slightly unfocused soloist, and Scriabin's unfailingly effective Poem of Ecstasy, which here was made almost too refined for its own brazen good. Read more

Orange County Register – Timothy Mangan – Esa-Pekka Salonen is back in town for a couple of weeks to conduct three new works commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Sunday afternoon's audience, in Walt Disney Concert Hall, greeted the maestro, now in his final months as music director, like a returning hero, with cheers and applause that didn't stop when he got to the podium. Before conducting a note of music, he had already taken his second bow. Read more

Los Angeles Times – Mark Swed – Esa-Pekka Salonen’s time as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic – two weeks this month and two in April – is growing short. But the theme is the future, and he is packing a lot of the future in. Saturday night at Walt Disney Concert Hall, he premiered a major symphony by Arvo Pärt. Read more

Washington Post – Charles T. Downey – On Sunday afternoon, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir made a stop at the Clarice Smith Center on its North American tour. The program highlighted the music of living Estonian composers, one of this esteemed choir's specialties. Read more

The Times – Richard Morrison – Other people devise league tables of wines, or left-handed batsmen since the war. I rank choirs. And on the basis of their Edinburgh Festival appearance (they were also at the Proms this week) the 26 choristers of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir soar right to the top of my Choral Champions League. Read more

The Daily Telegraph – Matthew Rye – Kremerata Baltica was set up by the Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer in 1997 to nurture the cream – or crema, if you will – of talent among musicians from the three Baltic states. Fundamentally a string orchestra, with occasional input from wind or percussion, it seemed on this stop of its 10th-anniversary tour that it is in danger of topping the master himself. Read more

The New York Sun – Fred Kirshnit – In this age of apostasy, many Westerners turn their backs on religion only to find that they soon develop an increased craving for spirituality. Many in the former Eastern bloc, their religion quashed under the heel of communism, experienced a similar journey. Read more

Playbill Arts – Vivien Schweitzer – Arvo Pärt will dedicate all performances of his music during the 2006-07 season to the memory of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was murdered on October 7. Read more

The Moscow Times – Antonio Lupher – Medieval church music will mix with modern minimalism on Sunday, as Moscow celebrates the 70th birthday of the Estonian avant-garde composer Arvo Part with a gala concert in the Conservatory Great Hall exploring his lengthy career. Read more

The Washington Post – Philip Kennicott – The sun shines just as brightly and just as often in Estonia as anywhere else, but such is the power of musical impressions that many in the West will imagine it a monochrome land of somber people praying in penitentially drafty churches. One composer –Arvo Pärt, whose "Festina Lente" was performed by the National Symphony Orchestra last night– is primarily responsible for that impression. Read more