Arvo Pärt: Tabula Rasa (2021)

Violinist Renaud Capuçon is known best for mainstream French Romantic repertory and not so much for the minimalist Arvo Pärt or other contemporary music. Since assuming the conductorship of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, however, he has stated a desire to pursue new directions, and this collection of Pärt's works certainly fills the bill. The pieces range in time from the 1970s to the 2000s decade and could meet the need of someone in search of an overview of Pärt's work in the minimalist style. Some of the works ... Read More

Violinist Renaud Capuçon is known best for mainstream French Romantic repertory and not so much for the minimalist Arvo Pärt or other contemporary music. Since assuming the conductorship of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, however, he has stated a desire to pursue new directions, and this collection of Pärt's works certainly fills the bill. The pieces range in time from the 1970s to the 2000s decade and could meet the need of someone in search of an overview of Pärt's work in the minimalist style. Some of the works feature a solo violin, and in these, Capuçon both plays and conducts. The writing here is not conventionally virtuosic, but it has its challenges for the player, often residing in the instrument's top register for uncomfortable lengths of time. Capuçon cultivates a sparkling hard edge in these passages, and in the duo concerto-like Tabula Rasa, one of the first fruits of Pärt's new tintinnabuli style in the 1970s, the duo passages with second soloist François Sochard appealingly ring... Read Less