Alina

by Glenn SwanArvo P?rt is a living national treasure to Estonia, and this album reveals such intimate access to his faith, sadness, and humility. Structured in five parts, Alina is a simple, chilling invocation of heartfelt desire comprised of only two movements that alternate with subtle variation. The opening lullaby of "Spiegel im Spiegel" is a gentle and melancholy embrace between Sergej Bezrodney on piano and Vladimir Spivakov on violin, where every note steps gracefully forward, as if ascending a fragile staircase. In contrast, the two movements of "Für Alina" leave a little room for structured improvisation, as the top note in each chord is left for the performer to, as P?rt puts it, "explore within themselves." Thus, Alexander Malter deserves special recognition for breathing such mournful sweetness into these passages through every fingertip; every delicate cluster of notes shines like a distant star through a wintery black night. Malter stays on for the middle section of "Spiegel im Spiegel" and, with violoncello from Dietmar Schwalke, adds a more somber deliberateness to the piece that pianist Bezrodney shies away from in his performances (tracks one and five), instead opting for restrained tenderness. The disc closes much in the same way it opens: as if a prayer of deepest longing were just whispered into the still air. Frequent ECM producer Manfred Eicher calls upon his usual strengths, by letting the instruments speak for themselves in the right acoustical settings -- less is certainly more, and the stark beauty of Alina comes partly from what we hear between the notes: such a rich and gorgeous silence. This is perhaps one of P?rt's finest releases on compact disc, though one of his quietest. These are the tears of ghosts. 

Arvo认为他的音乐就像无色透明的白光，而每个人的心中都有一个三菱镜，都可以依照自己的心境角度，听出音乐中的七彩变化。到底这样的音乐是寂静之音、是空洞的背景音乐、还是充满生命力的讴歌?唯有自己用心聆听，没有任何乐评或唱片侧标可以替你解答。

拿到这张专辑，许多人可能会觉得奇怪，因为专辑同名曲Alina竟然重复演奏了两遍，另一部Spiegel Im Spiegel小提琴奏鸣曲更重复演奏了三遍(其中一个版本将小提琴换为大提琴)。原来Arvo在创作这些曲子时，虽然在乐谱上标示了音高与强弱，却没有标明节拍，

爱沙尼亚作曲家Arvo Pärt擅长以极简音符，建构出深沉的音乐张力，而这张「Alina」专辑中收录的两首作品，则是他将极简音乐语汇发挥到极致之作。