About this Artist

• Biography
• Interview

Editorial Reviews

It was with a recording of "Tabula Rasa" and "Fratres" that many music lovers first became familiar with the music of Arvo Pärt. Spare yet baroquely ornamented, the reclusive Estonian composer's art is palpably and powerfully spiritual. Since the release of that pioneering disc by Gidon Kremer in the mid-1980's, many listeners have fallen under this music's heady spell. In the liner notes of his new recording, young virtuoso violinist Gil Shaham writes that he first heard "Tabula Rasa" on the radio while driving through Utah. "There in the middle of the desert, his music suddenly made sense." Shaham has a much richer tone than Kremer, whose lean sound is ideally suited to such austere music. But Shaham's lyrical approach brings out a luminous, singing quality in these works. In "Fratres," his energetic arpeggios hover like halos over the cool, still chords of the string orchestra. Australian violinist Adele Anthony matches Shaham perfectly in the stratospheric roulades of "Tabula Rasa." This CD also offers Pärt's Third Symphony (1971). While not as hypnotic as Pärt's more recent music, its evocation of Medieval sounds was an important step in his development. The performance by Neeme Järvi -- the conductor's second recording of this symphony -- is appropriately dark and rugged. Andrew Farach-Colton, Barnes & Noble

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