Classical reviews: Arvo Pärt and various artists

Arvo Pärt: Lamentate  

Onuté Grazinuté, voice and piano; Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Modestas Pitrenas  

Accentus ACC30512  

★ ★ ★ ★★ 

Arvo Pärt’s music is one of the wonders of the world. How could something so egregiously bare and simple entrance the ear the way his music does? One of his early teachers gave voice to the idea for which he has long been striving: “It is more difficult to find a single right note than to put a whole mass of them down on paper.” It’s appropriate that Pärt’s first job was as a sound engineer; his style was slow to emerge, after eight years of silent contemplation following his conversion to the Russian Orthodox faith. 

His music works on the basis of the simplest intervals – fourths, fifths, and octaves – which invade our minds with mesmerising force. The main piece on this CD was inspired by Anish Kapoor’s gigantic sculpture Marsyas – commemorating the fate of a mythical satyr who was flayed alive – and it’s a lamentation not for the dead but for the living. The performances here are outstanding; the musical equivalent of white light.   

Jonas Kaufmann: It’s Christmas!  

Jonas Kaufmann, tenor; St Florianer Sangerknaben, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Cologne Studio Bigband   

Sony 194397867626  

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

“When I think of Christmas,’ says the tenor Jonas Kaufmann in his liner note, “I recall how I landed unexpectedly on the title page of a Munich newspaper at the age of eight.” This was because he had described his own family Christmas in such vivid terms that his story won a prize, but what it didn’t mention was the practical joke he and his siblings played on their mother when singing carols. On a secret signal, they would all fall silent, leaving their mother – who couldn’t sing in tune – embarrassingly exposed. 

His other Christmas thoughts concern Nativity scenes, interdenominational celebrations, and all the music that comes with the season, which is what this engaging double-CD is all about. CD1 consists of the carol tradition going back to the early Middle Ages, including some fascinating and rarely-heard pieces. CD2 dwells in the recent past and in the here-and-now, starting with “O Come All Ye Faithful”, and not omitting “Jingle Bells”. And he’s in fine voice.