Arvo Pärt: Portrait - Angèle Dubeau & La Pietà (2010)
Ideated from: my best-of-month lists for October over the years. also on the Oct 2010 list: Grieves’ 88 Keys And Counting, Elizabeth Cook’s Welder
The expected trajectory for a world class violinist is usually to beome an itinerant soloist, jetting from one top orchestra to the next all season, performing the great pieces of “The Repertoire.” Dubeau has the talent to be that way, but she has chosen a different path. She fronts her own ensemble and records and tours in order to widen the audience for classical music. This has led her to record albums of film and video game music, concept albums tracing a particular idea through western music history, and a series of these portrait albums full of her interpretations of an admired composer.
Pärt is still alive as I write this, but is closely associated with 20th century modernism. He has a much different idea of what modern composition comprises than many of his peers. Less minimalist and more like a lean and efficient cut to the melodic and harmonic center of what he wants to express. Dubeau and her group do a great job on all of it, mixing his better known works with some lesser recognized ones.
Tracks I Liked
Cantus In Memoriam Benjamin Britten - A simple and heart-wrenching elegy.
Tabula Rasa - the centerpiece and one of his best-loved works.
Spiegel Im Spiegel - if you’ve watched a movie trailer or a tv show in this century, you’ve heard this. Every time I hear it it just stops me in my tracks.
