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Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
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Track Listings
| 1. Spiegel im Spiegel |
| 2. Für Alina |
| 3. Spiegel im Spiegel |
| 4. Für Alina |
| 5. Spiegel im Spiegel |
Product Description
From Amazon.co.uk
This is a remarkable release, both for its beauty and its novelty at programming. Für Alina is a two-minute solo piano piece composed by Pärt in l976 that ushered in his "tintinnabuli" style, that is, the bell-like, simple, no-notes-wasted method for which he has become beloved and famous. On this CD, pianist Alexander Malter plays it twice, as the second and fourth tracks; each iteration takes almost 11 minutes (Pärt assumed it would be embellished, and he chose this pair for the CD). There are minute variations in tempo, emphasis, and rubato from one to the other, but, all that being said, it amounts to 22 minutes of the most beautiful, contemplative music ever performed. Almost equally gentle is Spiegel im Spiegel , played as tracks 1, 3 and 5 and scored for piano and, respectively, violin, cello, and then violin again. The notes the instruments mirror one another (Spiegel is German for mirror), with notes added to the scale with each repetition, and so on. Almost impossible to describe in its loveliness, each of the three sets is beautiful; the cello in track 3 gives it extra mellowness. This is music staggering in its simple complexity and a treat for the ear and heart. --Robert Levine
Product Description
Arvo Pärt's Alina follows a simple-enough formula. Two stark instrumental works from the master of holy minimalism repeat each other, each time slightly different. But the blissful results--quiet, haunting, and thoroughly hypnotizing--meld to create one of classical music's best albums of 2000. It's as intense and sublime as contemporary classical music can be. --Jason Verlinde
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Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The beauty of Alina...,
By
This review is from: Alina (Audio CD)
Four years ago I started listening to Part - getting Beatus as my first album. Very recently I purchased "De Profundis", which basically contains the same music. But then came along Tabula Rasa, of which especially " Cantus in memory of Benjamin Britten" caught my attention. I listened to the first minutes of Alina (available online) and was just struck. I bought the CD the same day, and was just captivated. It is the most beautiful music I have ever heard. And yes it moved me tears. And keeps on doing that. This is an absolute masterpiece. I can understand not everyone would like this, but many people around me who hear this music are drawn to it. Recommended.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
It's a DOG!,
By Dirk Hugo (Cape Town, South Africa) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Alina (Audio CD)
Anyone who has been captivated by the minimal spaciousness and poise of Part's other releases should think twice before purchasing this turkey. The compositions (only two of them, but recycled several times by Manfred Eicher in this pre-Christmas cash-in on the composer's celebrity) date back to the seventies when Part was still germinating his true style. They are tedious in the extreme, lacking the harmonic depth and thematic development that characterise his more listenable works. Newcomers to Arvo Part's world would do far better to check out Te Deum or Kanon Pokajanen.
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Minimalist Approach,
By
This review is from: Alina (Audio CD)
I first became aware of Arvo Pärt while doing research on the Internet to locate the music Gus Van Sant used for his movie, Gerry. Alina, the "non-official" soundtrack to this sparse (but amazing) movie, is a minimal classical album which consists of extremely spacious piano works; nothing more and nothing less. But even though there are no other instruments involved, it's devoid of any austerity. The album consists of several long movements/variations of two songs, "Spiegel Im Spiegel" and "Für Alina." Both are very similar in scope and lend themselves well to each other without battling for the spotlight. Not unlike being in a daydream, Arvo Pärt gently takes us through soundscapes of forgotten time. Be forewarned, however, that Alina moves at a snail's pace, but the simple beauty is unquestionably one of the more memorable moments of music in the last twenty years.
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