Considering all the Botox, paparazzi and Mel Gibson, calling L.A. the “City of Angels” seems a stretch. But for Arvo Pärt, the nickname seemed serendipitous. The composer had been contemplating writing a piece based on Church Slavonic texts pertaining to guardian angels before the L.A. Philharmonic and its then music director Esa-Pekka Salonen came calling for a new work.
The Estonian’s Fourth Symphony commences with stratospherically high pitches, the upper strings reaching for the heavens. The first movement, “Con Sublimità,” is suffused with moments of quiet harmonic tension, each unfolding into a shimmering release. Even without the aid of vocals (the symphony is scored for string orchestra, percussion, tympani and harp), it’s immediately apparent we’re listening to a series of invocations. Midway through the movement, thunderous tympani strikes and arresting bell peals usher in an urgency for this entreaty to the angels, the strings continuing their prayerful chant.
In his ability to make even the most cataclysmic sonic moments intensely personal and introspective, Pärt perhaps stands alone. The expansiveness of the entire symphony is almost Brucknerian, slow to unveil itself. As with much of Pärt’s catalog, listeners find themselves deeply and helplessly meditative.
In an otherwise sterling performance by the L.A. Phil, wonky violin harmonics at the conclusion of the third movement, “Deciso,” account for the only misstep. Alongside the 75-year-old’s luminous Fragments from Kanon Pokajanen, performed here by the Estonian Chamber Choir, Pärt’s Fourth Symphony makes for one of the year’s most compelling releases.
- Doyle Armbrust
published in Time Out Chicago on September 8th, 2010