ARVO PÄRT: Symphony No. 3; Cantique des degrees; Stabat mater – RIAS Chamber Choir/ Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra/ Kristjan Jarvi, conductor – Sony/BMG 775391, 60:09 ****:
Part’s Stabat mater was originally conceived in 1985 for soprano, alto, tenor, and string trio. Fortunately for us, Kristjan Jarvi was able to commission a rewrite for orchestra and chorus in 2008 that is far superior; with the massed forces and larger strings there is something that emerges from this plaintive score that was missing before, a sad, nostalgic and yet tearfully hopeful presentation that lets one wander in a deluge of sonic radiance. Part is of course good at this thing, as his vast catalog of rainbow beauties attests; but this is something different, something that strikes one as more heartfelt than before, possibly because the intervening 23 years provided him with more life experience to pour into the work—who knows? But it is terrific is every way.
The 1971 Symphony has long considered to be one of Part’s seminal masterpieces, and with good reason; its medieval sounds combined with hints of baroque techniques, ever-present idée fixe of high trumpet and call-to-arms timpani make it a strange transportation into a world long ago that maybe only exists in our historical imaginations. But it is certainly great fun to hear and was a real calling card for the young composer at the time. This version is very good—not, I’ll wager, in the same league as brother Paavo’s effort on Virgin Classics, or the EMI LPO recording with Franz Welser-Möst, but still excellent, and Kristjan seems to be a conductor willing to sacrifice details of smoothness and ensemble to overall effect (the trumpet player in particular can be a bit strident in a few spots).
Cantique des degrees is from 1999/2002, and shows the composer in a much more lyrical mode, almost of the English choral composer-variety in some places! I can’t recall a Part work so deliberately engaged in, well, pure melody. This anthem-like piece is quite the charmer, comforting, Brahmsian in places, moving, and completely delightful. And I will bet you the farm that if you heard it blind you would never guess it was by Part.
Chorus and orchestra sound fine here as in most places with the above caveat, and this should be another big Part seller, for which we can all be thankful. Cantique des degrees and this version of the Stabat mater are premiere recordings.
— Steven Ritter
