Some of the
Arvo Paert pieces on this richly recorded
Little Tribeca release are among the world's most popular pieces of contemporary classical music and have been recorded many times, but the
Morphing Chamber Orchestra -- the name indeed seems to mean "thing that morphs" -- has something to say about almost every one of them. The big draw, perhaps, is the presence of a trio of powerhouse vocal soloists, namely countertenor
Andreas Scholl, tenor
Roberto Alagna, and the slightly less familiar but wonderful soprano
Aleksandra Kurzak.
Scholl is deployed as soloist in several pieces, and some of these were written for other voices: a boy soprano, an alto, or a tenor, but here and elsewhere, it is hard to take issue with the tinkering with
Paert's musical texts, given how much of such tinkering he himself did. The biggest alteration comes in the much-recorded
Stabat mater of 1985, where conductor
Tomasz Wabnic adds a full string orchestra to the work, originally for three voices and string trio. The singers are deployed in full operatic splendor. Whether this is in keeping with what
Paert intended might be debated, but it is electrifying. The countertenor arrangement of
Ein Wallfahrtslied, originally for tenor or baritone and string quartet or string orchestra, is also
Wabnic's work.
Scholl sounds great as he enters the second half of his sixth decade; if his voice does not have quite the ease it once did, it nevertheless retains the mysterious multiplicity of shades that have made him so popular over the years. Those shades also equip him admirably for
Paert's music. There are also instrumental pieces, including the famed
Spiegel im Spiegel ("
Mirror in the Mirror"), with orchestra members delivering admirably precise, resonating performances. Nothing here is less than fresh, and even longtime
Paert fans will be intrigued by the new ways his music can sound. ~ James Manheim
