Available again after some time out of the catalogue, the St Luke Passion, from the Greek composer Calliope Tsoupaki, is a dualistic masterpiece. The deeply religious composer found her inspiration in the icon that features on the cover of this CD.

When one looks carefully this Christ seems to have two faces and so does Tsoupaki’s music. At once severe and enigmatic and loving and tender, or joyous and sad at the same time. Musically, Tsoupaki looks back to the 7th and 8th centuries, when early Gregorian chant merged with Byzantine melodies.

A comparable merging of East and West is achieved by combining the forces of Palestinian singer Raneen Hanna and Dutch tenor Marcel Beekman, a Byzantine choir and the Egidius Quartet. The Nieuw Ensemble is conducted by Ed Spanjaard, one ofthe foremost contemporary music conductors from the Netherlands.