The 2012 Decca compilation, Serenity: The Beauty of Arvo Pärt, is not likely to be of special interest to listeners who are already fans of the composer. While none of these performances can be faulted, most of them do not represent the most satisfying, authoritative version of the pieces. Pärt created or authorized many different orchestrations of his most popular works, and there are some obscure arrangements here that might attract fans who want every version possible. Some of the relatively rare pieces include My Heart ...
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The 2012 Decca compilation, Serenity: The Beauty of Arvo Pärt, is not likely to be of special interest to listeners who are already fans of the composer. While none of these performances can be faulted, most of them do not represent the most satisfying, authoritative version of the pieces. Pärt created or authorized many different orchestrations of his most popular works, and there are some obscure arrangements here that might attract fans who want every version possible. Some of the relatively rare pieces include My Heart's in the Highlands for counter tenor and organ; Fratres (of which there are 16 published versions), for violin, string orchestra, and percussion, an especially nice arrangement; and a version of Spiegel in Spiegel for violin and harp that is well-suited to these instruments, played sensitively and idiosyncratically by Pärt specialist Gidon Kremer and Noako Yoshino. The three performances by Harry Christophers and the Sixteen are also standouts, as is a high-energy reading of Tabula...
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