October is
bachtrack’s contemporary music month, and it is great to see that Arvo
Pärt is featured in the special on Minimalists, and that Pierre Boulez –
together with Stockhausen, Berio, and others – is regarded as one of conemporary music’s “Cutting-Edge Heavyweights”: A generation of composers growing up amongst the
carnage of Hitler’s Europe [that] turned their faces away from the traditional
language of music, which seemed forever tainted by that world, in search of a
new musical grammar.
Boulez on Boulez:
Today, 1 October, the Canadian
premières of Arvo Pärt’s L’abbé Agathon and Adam’s
Lament take place, the whole concert will be streamed live. Tõnu Kaljuste conducts
soprano Shannon Mercer and the Choir 21 at the Koerner Hall in Toronto.
Find out more on Soundstreams.
There's a certain kind
of modesty, and the willingness to take a risk in reducing the composotorial
tools, to focus on the essence of the piece.
Andreas Scholl, world-famous countertenor, recently gave an interview to the Australian daily newspaper The Age, talking about his upcoming performances at the City Recital Hall in Sidney on October 4, 5, 8 and 9 with the Australian Chamber Orchestra.
Among the works performed will be Arvo Pärt’s Wallfahrtslied, Es sang vor langen Jahren, Alfred Schnittke’s String Quartet No. 3 and pieces by Vivaldi and Bach.
On the strings: Helena Rathbone, vln; Rebecca Chan, vln; Christopher Moore, vla; Timo-Veikko Valve, vlc; Maxime Bibeau, cb
Find the full article on The Age.
The Dublin Guitar Quartet is currently on an Irish tour (further performances on 28 September and 05 and 06 October), which will be followed by an exensive tour through America.
The quartet is promoting its new album (which focuses on the music of Philip Glass), music by Glass, Reich, Ligeti, and Pärt will be performed on their tour.
Watch a live video of the Dublin Guitar Quartet playing Pärt’s Summa:
Visit the Dublin Guitar Quartet website.
A great opportunity to listen to Arvo Pärt’s Tabula Rasa once more – not to spoil it with too many words, here is the video, without further ado: enjoy this 3D projection video, created by Bordos.ArtWorks.
The projection took place in Târgu Mureș in Romania on 8 September 2013 during the 100 years anniversary of the Palace of Culture.
The artist about the projection:
“The story of this projection was inspired by the beautiful stained glass inside the Palace. Especially the legend of Kata Kadar who drown in a lake. During this projection we remembered her and revived her up for a moment. The great music of Arvo Pärt was a great inspiration as well.”
The United States
Coast Guard Band performs Arvo Pärt’s Fratres for
chamber ensemble this Sunday, 15.09.2013, for free at the Leamy Concert Hall, New London.
Find out more on their homepage.
Arvo Pärt: Fratres
for chamber
ensemble | 10'
1 1 1 1 - 1 0 0 0 -
perc, str(1 1 1 1 1)
15.09.2013, Leamy
Concert Hall, New London; United States Coast Guard Band
Happy Birthday Arvo Pärt
Today, 11 September 2013, the composer
celebrates his 78th birthday, and Tõnu Kaljuste and the Tallinn Chamber
Orchestra dedicate a birthday concert to him at the end of the Nargenfestival’s
Arvo Pärt days.
Among the works performed will be Tabula rasa, which had its world première more than 35 years ago in Tallinn (with Alfred Schnittke on the piano) and Spiegel im Spiegel for violin and piano.
Arvo Pärt: Orient & Occident
for string
orchestra | 7'
Arvo
Pärt: Spiegel im Spiegel
for violin and piano | 10'
Arvo
Pärt: Tabula rasa
for 2 violins,
string orchestra and prepared piano | 27'
Arvo Pärt: Trisagion
for string
orchestra | 12'
11.09.2013,
Tallinn; St. John's Church, Harry Traksmann, vln; Robert Traksmann, vln; Marrit
Gerretz-Traksmann, pno; Leho Karin, vlc; Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, cond. Tõnu
Kaljuste
Tim Ashley of The
Guardian reviews the Prom 67, which was “subtle,
electrifying and attain[ed] a tragic nobility”: Paavo Järvi conducted the Orchestra de Paris,
with Arvo Pärt’sCantus
in Memoriam Benjamin Britten and Britten’s Violin Concerto – followed by Berlioz and Saint-Saëns – on the
programme.
The full review is available on The Guardian.
The Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, held from 6 July to
25 August, features a special programme that focuses on the music of Arvo Pärt
and presents more than 15 works of the composer’s catalogue.
A highlight of this programme will be the Cello8ctet Amsterdam’s performance of seven works by Pärt, all of which he transcribed for 8 violoncellos.
Arvo Pärt on the ensemble: “The octet is a piece of gold, I discovered this group 10 years too late.”
Arvo Pärt: Kanon Pokajanen
for
mixed choir a cappella
09/8/2013,
St. Michaelis, Hamburg; Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, cond. Tõnu Kaljuste
Arvo Pärt:
Solfeggio
Arvo Pärt:
Missa brevis
Arvo Pärt:
Summa
Arvo Pärt:
Psalom
Arvo Pärt: Da
pacem Domine
Arvo Pärt: Silouans Song
Arvo Pärt: O-Antiphonen
for 8
violoncellos
10/08/2013,
NDR, Hamburg; Cello8ctet Amsterdam
Arvo Pärt: Fratres
Arvo Pärt: Cantus in Memory of Benjamin
Britten
Arvo Pärt: Adam’s Lament
Arvo Pärt: Salve Regina
Arvo Pärt: Te Deum
10/8/2013,
Hamburg, St. Jacobi; Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir; Tallinn Chamber
Orchestra, cond. Tõnu Kaljuste
Arvo Pärt: Für Alina
for piano
| 2’
11/8/2013,
NDR, Hamburg; Ulrike Payer, pno
Arvo Pärt: Lamentate
Arvo Pärt: Tabula rasa
11/8/2013,
Hamburg, NDR, Rolf-Liebermann-Studio; Marrit Gerretz-Traksmann, pno; Barnabás
Kelemen, vln; Ye-Eun Choi, vln; NDR Radiophilharmonie, cond. Tõnu Kaljuste
Arvo Pärt and the Cello8ctet in Amsterdam
Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel is featured in the trailer of Alfonso Cuarón’s upcoming hollywood movie Gravity:
Arvo Pärt’s Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten for string orchestra and bells and Spiegel im Spiegel for violin and piano will be performed at the Aspen Music Festival. This year, the festival in the Colorado Mountains runs under the theme Conscience and Beauty.
Here’s an excerpt of Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten:
Arvo Pärt: Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten
for string orchestra and bell | 6’
21/07/2013, Benedict Music Tent; Aspen Festival Orchestra, cond. Leonard
Slatkin
Arvo Pärt: Spiegel im
Spiegel
for violin and piano | 10’
7/8/2013, Harris Concert Hall; Anne-Marie McDermott,
pno; Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, vln
Some impressions of the performance of Arvo Pärt's Passio on 26 March 2013 at the Westerkerk in Amsterdam – including standing ovations.
Happy Birthday Keith Jarrett!
Here is our special edition rerelease of the legendary ECM recording of Arvo Pärt's Fratres by Gidon Kremer and Keith Jarrett from 1984.
John Adams conducts Arvo Pärt’s Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten with the Los Angeles Philharmonic tonight.
The programme also includes Adams’ own Violin Concerto (with Leila Josefowicz as the soloist) and the US West-Coast première of Philip Glass’ Symphony No. 9.
Here’s an excerpt of Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten:
Watch the BBC’s short film on their forthcoming Total Immersion Arvo Pärt, which takes place on 28 April at the Barbican in London.