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DiscountDelight - Lamentate
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List Price: $17.98
Our Price: $12.93
Your Save: $ 5.05 ( 28% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Ecm Records
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0028947630487
Label: Ecm Records
Manufacturer: Ecm Records
Publisher: Ecm Records
Release Date: 2005-08-30
Studio: Ecm Records
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: a somber lament for a world of suffering
Comment: "Lamentate" reminds us that Arvo Part, the Estonian composer known as a "holy minimalist," was a modernist before he was a postmodernist. The 37-minute work opens with a bang, a great rumble from percussion and a minor-key fanfare from the horns, before subsiding into more typical Partian meditations. Dissonant menace periodically returns, however, marking this as Part's most Shostakovich-like composition. Alexie Lubimov plays the ethereal, searching piano part in a piano concerto that is not a piano concerto. The SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra is directed by Andrey Boreyko, and sounds superb across the dynamic spectrum.
I had the opportunity to visit the Tate Modern on the Thames in June of 2004. The Engine Room of the former power generating station is an awesome space, and that is where Part saw the sculpture that inspired "Lamentate" in 2002 (thus the Tate in Lamentate). The premiere performance was in that space, at the foot of the sculpture "Marsyas" in February 2003 -- there is a photo of the event in the booklet. To me, this is a fascinating juxtaposition. Part's music since the mid-1970s represents a conscious rejection of the modernist avant-garde and an assertion of Orthodox religious content along with a pre/postmodern fusion of chant and other early forms with a stripped-down (minimalist) tonality. So here is Part at one of the temples of artistic modernity, drawing inspiration for his work. Adding to the fascination is my own trajectory from a heroic to a more tragic view of life, and a recognition of the primacy of the spiritual dimension.
With that I leave you to your own reflections. This is a major work from one of the major composers of our time. Thanks to ECM for championing Arvo Part and to its art department for another fine package for the sublime.
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Summary: Arvo Part is a singular force in modern symphonic music
Comment: Ever Since the Arvo Part ECM recording Tabula Rasa in 1984, the composer's profound philosophy of composition has been felt throughout the world of symphonic music.
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Summary: Buy it!
Comment: I won't repeat what has already been given as background and descriptions of the piece. Suffice it to say that fans of Arvo Part will not be disappointed. The music has his typical ethereal qualities, with a dynamism that may surprise some. The CD is very well recorded and engineered...the wide range in dynamism never offends despite sound levels that allow one to appreciate the quieter passages.
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Summary: Meaningful on many levels
Comment: "Lamentate" is a multi-level work, inspired by Pärt's reaction to Anish Kapoor's sculpture "Marsyas" at the Tate Modern. The sculpture was itself inspired by the incident in Greek mythology. Marsyas was an accomplished flutist, who entered into a musicianship contest with Apollo. It was agreed beforehand that the victor could do whatever he liked with the loser. Apollo played the lyre, having improved its design by adding four strings to the original three designed by Hermes.
The initial results of the contest were inconclusive. Two accounts exist as to its resolution. In one, Apollo turned his lyre upside-down and played it that way, a feat impossible to duplicate with a flute. In the other, Apollo sang while playing. When Marsyas pointed out that the voice was a separate instrument, Apollo countered that it was merely breath, which was what Marsyas was using when he played his flute. In any event, Apollo was judged the winner. For his reward, he chose to flay the skin from Marsyas' living body. Afterwards, Apollo felt so remorseful that he removed the four strings he had added to his lyre and thenceforth played only with the original three.
"Lamentate" is a departure for Pärt, having more in common with his 3rd Symphony than more recent "tintinnabuli" works. Not exactly a piano concerto, it has more affinity with Messiaen's "Turangalila" Symphony in that the piano is more a part of the orchestra rather than in the foreground. Like that work, it is also comprised of multiple and highly varied movements.
The enclosed booklet contains no translation of the unusual movement names. Although I do not speak Italian, I was able to translate it with the aid of an on-line translation site. I am including the results for anyone interested in adding this dimension to the work.
Lamentate: Complainingly
Minacciando: Threatening
Spietato: Pitiless
Fragile: Fragile
Pregando: Praying
Solitudine - stato d'animo: Solitude - state of mind
Consolante: Consoling
Stridendo: Squeaking
Lametabile: Lamentably
Risolutamente: Decidedly
Fragile e conciliante: Fragile and Conciliating
"Lamentate" in its choice of instrumentation and varied structure may represent another stylistic shift for this composer, possibly in the direction of finding some unification of his past styles. At an age when many of the surviving rock `n' roll icons of the 1960s consider themselves fortunate if they can still drag themselves onstage and belt out their hits from 30 years ago, Pärt is coming into the height of his powers. The excellence of "Lamentate" in concept and execution leads me to risk the prediction that Pärt's best work still lies ahead of him.
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Summary: Arvo Pärt's Finest Work to Date!
Comment: Arvo Pärt continues to grow as a composer and this 'requiem' entitled LAMENTATE is a brilliantly successful composition. Written in response to his sense of encountering the concept of his own mortality upon viewing a sculptural work by avant-garde artist Anish Kapoor, Pärt composed this work for piano and orchestra.
Divided into ten parts the work embraces the spectrum of living from crashing complexities of massive instrumental forces to quiet meditations and ethereal, spiritual lines of exquisite beauty. There are no voices for this `requiem' and the work is not a true piano concerto in the strictest sense: the piano serves to embroider the orchestral tonal clouds and moves much the way Pärt has used the voice in his other compositions. The accomplished piano soloist here is Alexei Lubimov and the performance by the SWR Radio-sinfonieorchester Stuttgart is ably conducted by the gifted Andrey Boreyko who will be guest conducting the LA Philharmonic with the Shostakovich Symphony No. 15 soon.
The recording opens with the a cappella 'Da Pacem Domine' as performed by the Hilliard Ensemble, a 2004 work which retains he composer's preoccupation with the art of Gregorian chant. While there are fortunately many recordings of Arvo Pärt's works available, this is probably one of the finest and certainly an excellent starting point for those new to this gifted composer's work. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, October 05
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Editorial Reviews:
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The brief opening piece for chorus on this new release, "Da Pacem Domine," is based on a 9th century Gregorian work and has the usual, familiar--and very beautiful--Pärt-ian characteristics: a soft, endless stream of easy tritones and harmonies that make this plea for peace immensely moving. The major work, Lamentate, is scored for large orchestra and solo piano--a very unusual combination for Pärt. Even his fans will be surprised. In ten brief sections, it begins with a quiet drum roll, immediately followed by horn calls. There are forte explosions for full orchestra and piano, with heavy percussion. At times the only thing we hear is a hushed piano part with strings supporting very quietly. The effect is dark yet alluring. It ends peacefully. This is another stunning CD of Pärt's music for his fans--old and new. --Robert Levine
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