Arvo Pärt: Alina cover
Released

The music of Arvo Pärt has been a touchstone for ECM since the label began its classical-leaning New Series label in 1984 with Tabula rasa. And yet, while that and subsequent recordings have often favored large-scale works like the Estonian composer’s Te Deum and Miserere, there is something even grander about the bare essentials represented in Alina, which interlaces two iterations of the title composition for solo piano between three versions of Spiegel im Spiegel for violin (or cello) and piano. The effect is as flowing as it is austere, capturing the essence of Pärt’s uncompromising approach to harmony.

Tyran Grillo

Recommended by

Suggestions
Keith Jarrett: Ritual cover

Keith Jarrett: Ritual

Dennis Russell Davies
Lua Ya cover

Lua Ya

Yeahwon Shin
Vignettes cover

Vignettes

Marilyn Crispell
Northbound cover

Northbound

Iro Haarla
In The Light cover

In The Light

Keith Jarrett
The Sea cover

The Sea

Terje Rypdal, Ketil Bjørnstad, Jon Christensen, David Darling
Lou Harrison: Piano Concerto; Suite for Violin, Piano and Small Orchestra cover

Lou Harrison: Piano Concerto; Suite for Violin, Piano and Small Orchestra

Lucy Stoltzman, New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Naoto Otomo, Keith Jarrett
Somewhere Called Home cover

Somewhere Called Home

John Taylor, Norma Winstone, Tony Coe
Frère Jacques - Round About Offenbach cover

Frère Jacques - Round About Offenbach

Gianluigi Trovesi, Gianni Coscia
The Lamp And The Star cover

The Lamp And The Star

Nels Cline, Hank Roberts, Aina Kemanis, Jeff Gauthier Goatette, Wayne Peet, Eric Essen, Alex Cline