Arvo Part: Alina Vladimir Spivakov, violin/Sergei Bezrodny, piano/Dietmar Schwalke, cello/Alexander Malter, piano (ECM New Series 1591 289 449 958-2).

Arvo Part: Alina Vladimir Spivakov, violin/Sergei Bezrodny, piano/Dietmar Schwalke, cello/Alexander Malter, piano (ECM New Series 1591 289 449 958-2)

The program on this recording has an interesting structure. There are five performances of two compositions. Tracks 1, 3, and 5 are performances of Speigel im Spiegel, with tracks 1 and 5 performed by the violin/piano duet of Vladimir Spivakov and Sergei Bezrodny, track 3 featuring the cello/piano duet of Dieter Schwalke and Alexander Malter. Tracks 2 and 4 feature Malter's solo piano on Fur Alina. Both works are simple in their structure, but hearing them from different directions, as it were, reveals that the simple can be more complex than it seems at first hearing. At times the music seems to reflect quiet desperation, at other times, it seems to reflect intense hope; indeed, it sounds like prayer.

This is very intimate music, very personal. What you get out of it will depend in large measure upon what you bring to it. It can wind you up, or it can wind up down. It can say many things to you, or it can say the same thing over and over. To some of you, it may say nothing at all, while to others, it may say just what you want to hear. Some will prefer to listen in rapt attention, others will play it as background music. Some will thank me for recommending such rewarding music, others will castigate me for recommending such drivel--but all will probably say that they have never heard a CD quite like this before, and even those of you who find the music boring will have to concede that this is a beautiful production and recording. For me, it is one of the most remarkable recordings I have heard in a long time, and I recommend it quite highly. - KWN