アルヴォ・ペルトの世界～アリーナ

音を極限まで切り詰め、シンプルな音律と反復による"ティンティナブリ様式"を確立したターニング・ポイントとなった重要な作品の決定盤

ペルトの代表作、「アリーナのために」と「鏡の中の鏡」の録音は他にも多数ありますが、作曲家本人の参加を得て制作されたこのディスクのような録音は他にありません。ここでは、ペルトは卓越した演奏家たちの力を借りて、彼の作品における新たな「プリズム的」時代の幕開けを告げる、極めて重要なこれらの作品を再訪し、「ティンティナブリ様式」の根本的な特徴を体現する作品間のつながりを確立しています。ヴァイオリンまたはチェロとピアノのための二重奏曲「鏡の中の鏡」の3つの演奏は、「アリーナのために」の2つのソロの前、間、後に配置される「形式的な柱」となり、後者はアレクサンダー・モルターによって解釈の自由さをもって演奏されています。
ユニバーサル・ミュージック/IMS

Arvo Part is a living national treasure to Estonia, and this album reveals such intimate access to his faith, sadness, and humility. Structured in five parts, Alina is a simple, chilling invocation of heartfelt desire comprised of only two movements that alternate with subtle variation. The opening lullaby of "Spiegel im Spiegel" is a gentle and melancholy embrace between Sergej Bezrodney on piano and Vladimir Spivakov on violin, where every note steps gracefully forward, as if ascending a fragile staircase. In contrast, the two movements of "Fur Alina" leave a little room for structured improvisation, as the top note in each chord is left for the performer to, as Part puts it, "explore within themselves." Thus, Alexander Malter deserves special recognition for breathing such mournful sweetness into these passages through every fingertip; every delicate cluster of notes shines like a distant star through a wintery black night. Malter stays on for the middle section of "Spiegel im Spiegel" and, with violoncello from Dietmar Schwalke, adds a more somber deliberateness to the piece that pianist Bezrodney shies away from in his performances (tracks one and five), instead opting for restrained tenderness. The disc closes much in the same way it opens: as if a prayer of deepest longing were just whispered into the still air. Frequent ECM producer Manfred Eicher calls upon his usual strengths, by letting the instruments speak for themselves in the right acoustical settings -- less is certainly more, and the stark beauty of Alina comes partly from what we hear between the notes: such a rich and gorgeous silence. This is perhaps one of Part's finest releases on compact disc, though one of his quietest. These are the tears of ghosts. ~ Glenn Swan