Arvo Pärt

Presentación del Álbum

There's a theory, probably inaccurate, that musicians of the same national origin as a piece of music tend to deliver the best performances of it. Sure enough, the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and Estonian conductor Paavo Järvi are present here, and they deliver superbly controlled performances that are the essence of Pärt's mystic tintinnabuli (akin to the ringing of bells) style. But there's a second level to which the theory can be taken, and it finds spellbinding confirmation here. Things can go deeper than nationality, and although violinist Viktoria Mullova is Russian, she shares with Pärt the experience of coming of age musically under a Soviet state bureaucracy and having to find her own way creatively. The result is a Pärt recording that stands out sharply from others on the market. The music offers several of Pärt's big hits from the 1970s and isn't especially unusual, although Mullova offers the short, stark Darf ich... at the beginning, to set the mood for what follows. The solo role in that little work is more prominent than usual, and as the recording proceeds Mullova explores the possibilities of that solo role within the composer's minimalist textures. For most of the album she provides a hard edge as a counter to Pärt's mystical reflections. (Does the contrast reflect varying ways of dealing with state-mandated culture? Pärt is said to have approved of this recording.) Sample Mullova's treatment of the dissonant chord at the beginning of the first movement, "Ludus," of Tabula Rasa for an idea of what you are dealing with. It is illustrative of Mullova's greatness that she backs off this concept in the "Silentium" movement of Tabula Rasa, a piece that has been played for dying AIDS patients as music of the angels, and in the final Spiegel im Spiegel, played with jazz pianist Liam Dunachie. Here the calm Pärt is allowed to reign once again. As a first Pärt recording for a newcomer, this is fine; for those who know Pärt a bit, it is new and absolutely essential. Pärt is closely associated with the ECM label, but Onyx, working at locations in Estonia and Britain, offers a brighter sound that fits Mullova's aims perfectly.

© TiVo

Detalles de la grabación original : Recorded 7-9 August 2017, Estonia Concert Hall, Tallinn (Estonia) - Track 6 : 6 May 2018, Saffron Hall, Saffron Walden, Essex (UK)