Peteris Vasks...

...my new composer idol! Loved his Grāmata čellam (Book for Cello) which I heard at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Cellissimo concert just now, startlingly dramatic, stark and eerie at times, frighteningly violent at other moments, and no matter how you take to the piece, there's no way you can ignore its power over you in a live performance. I was so glad I took a chance on him and bought his violin-orchestral works CD a few months back, and having loved what I heard there, I'm delighted to be entranced by his music again tonight. Hearing it in the middle of the programme really spoilt the rest of the night for me - everything else sounded so quaint and trivial after that.