Customer Reviews

Alina

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

"I could compare my music to white light which contains all colours. Only a prism can divide the colours and make them appear; this prism could be the spirit of the listener." Con queste parole, a due anni dall'indimenticabile concerto in San Simpliciano, Arvo Part ci introduce all'ascolto del suo ultimo, straordinario disco. Alina è diviso in cinque movimenti, costituiti in realtà da diverse interpretazioni di due brani alternati secondo lo schema A-B-A-B-A: il duetto "Spiegel im Spiegel" ed il monologo "Fur Alina", quest'ultimo a formare i pilastri d'un ideale ponte a tre campate. Un edificio eretto su melodie semplificate, delle quali non colpisce tanto la fulgida poesia, quanto il silenzio che le pervade e ne giustifica la presenza; oppure, riprendendo un mirabile saggio breve di Sandro Susani (Conversazioni in ascensore su Arvo Part, Ed. Maintenant), "la raffinata suggestione, la semplice monodia, volutamente sommessa, direi quasi sottotono". Resa ancor più miracolosa da quattro interpreti eccezionali.

Robert Levine in amazon.com's editorial review is absolutely correct. This is the kind of music that words like "sublime" are meant to describe: passionately intimate, almost painfully beautiful, simple enough that you could talk on the phone and eat a sandwich while listening and still not worry about getting confused by the melodies or harmonies, yet the aubrescent rises and falls demand full attention, and eagerly award the listener who gives it. Five stars not lightly given for these two masterpieces.

(If one enjoys this, I'd also recommend "Out of the Night", which is another amazing disc with music by Pärt and John Tavener -- especially Pärt's "Sieben Magnificat")

more than any other cd in the last ten years this one has been the sound garden for my work

thank you Mr. Pärt

Breathtaking in its simplicity, each melancholy note has a way of mesmerizing the listener, leaving one no choice but to sit motionless and entranced. I first experienced these remarkable sounds in the Miramax film "Heaven" (Cate Blanchette, Giovanni Ribisi.) Never have a film and soundtrack been more intricately woven! It seems ironic that the title of the film so accurately depicts the nature of the music. Simply put, this CD is lovely.

...moving, introspective, contemplative, brilliant. Everyone should experience this music; it is a joy to listen to.

My copy of "Alina" arrived from Amazon today, here in the high Mexican sierra. Through gratitude for your efficiency, and having avoided the temptation to write yet another intellectual review,I put the CD on the player and lay on my bed looking at the moon and stars pouring light through the soft air. What can I say, having spent so many years with modern classical music? Only the FEELING that this glorious music produces, straight from the enormous soul of its composer. I heard sorrow for all mankind, free of pity...a simple acknowledgement of Part's compassion and how SOUND, through music, interconnects us on the deepest level. Listening to whatever the experts would have me call it, I am reminded that the Elizabethans put the sense of sound at the very top of the great Chain of Being, and that the Virgin Mary was impregnated through the ear where the voice of the divine entered. Arvo Part always captures the hugeness of spirit often lying dormant in mankind, and once again, I felt its presence in my house because of him.
Not a real review, but words can't express the mix of joy and sadness this CD has given me. Only buy it if you're ready for such an awakening. Linda M.

It's difficult to write about this album, as when put into words, it sounds very pseudo-new age in concept. Two pieces, one played three times (tracks 1, 3, 5 - though track 3 has a different instrumentation), the other twice (tracks 2, 4). Both of these pieces are as stark in nature as you can get (as one would expect of Part), with perhaps a triad occur every now and again as the most dense harmonic structure.

By description alone, this sounds soporific; one might even call it a musical joke (I believe some reviewers have). However, for me there is in this deceptively simple set up incredible emotional impact, something that I find incredibly hard to express in a review.

Perhaps the most clear example is in the piece "Spiegel Im Spiegel" (tracks 1, 3, 5). When it appears on the first and fifth tracks, the instrumentation is violin and piano, and it serves to bookend the CD with a sort of ice-like sound (not cold...more glassy). However, when the piece appears in the middle, the violin is replaced by a cello. This is not a drastic maneuver, musically speaking, but the effect on the listener is profound. The fuller sound of the cello gives the piece an added element of longing that when juxtaposed with the other tracks (which are more austere) is just flooring.

This is subtle music, and is not going to appeal to many people. However, for listeners with patience this is truly rewarding music.