Estonian conductor and Pärt expert Tönu Kaljuste assembled a combination of Estonian and Latvian forces — including the Latvian Radio Choir — for this recording, years in the making and released by Geramy’s ECM New Label.
Much of the music in Adam’s Lament, including the title piece, is sacred and sweeping in its musical scope, lending an epic edge to the disc.
The album contains eight pieces in all — Adam’s Lament, Beatus Petronius, a setting of Salve Regina, Statuit ei Dominus, Alleluja Tropus, L’Abbé Agathon, Estonian Lullaby and Christmas Lullaby.
The two lullabies are the most successful of the pieces. They are short, tight and possess a musical unity of purpose that makes them powerfully compelling in their quietness.
Unusually for Pärt, Adam’s Lament, the big piece on the disc, feels like he’s trying a bit too hard, trying to be both Elgarian and minimalist at the same time — and ending up being neither. But listeners who enjoy drama for drama’s sake might really get into the music.
The sound and balance from the choir are ridiculously perfect, so much so that I suspected that the production editors for the disc had done some serious fiddling with the dials — but then I found this video clip, which also shows that this is the sound the composer was looking for:
For more information on the album, click here.
John Terauds