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Alina - Arvo Pärt |  | Artists: Vladimir Spivakov, Sergej Bezrodny, Dietmar Schwalke, Alexander Malter
Creators: Arvo Pärt, Sergei Bezrodny
Label: Ecm Records
Category: Music
List Price: $17.98
Buy New: $10.00
as of 11/28/2009 01:57 CST details
You Save: $7.98 (44%)
New (29) Used (4) from $8.99
Seller: moviemars
Rating:  62 reviews
Sales Rank: 12741
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.7 x 0.6
MPN: 449958
UPC: 028944995824
EAN: 0028944995824
ASIN: B000024HL1
Release Date: February 1, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Spiegel im Spiegel, for violin & piano | | • | Für Alina, for piano | | • | Spiegel im Spiegel, for violin & piano | | • | Für Alina, for piano | | • | Spiegel im Spiegel, for violin & piano |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com's Best of 2000
Arvo Pärt's Alina follows a simple-enough formula. Two stark instrumental works from the master of holy minimalism repeat each other, each time slightly different. But the blissful results--quiet, haunting, and thoroughly hypnotizing--meld to create one of classical music's best albums of 2000. It's as intense and sublime as contemporary classical music can be. --Jason Verlinde
Amazon.com
This is a remarkable release, both for its beauty and its novelty at programming. Für Alina is a two-minute solo piano piece composed by Pärt in l976 that ushered in his "tintinnabuli" style, that is, the bell-like, simple, no-notes-wasted method for which he has become beloved and famous. On this CD, pianist Alexander Malter plays it twice, as the second and fourth tracks; each iteration takes almost 11 minutes (Pärt assumed it would be embellished, and he chose this pair for the CD). There are minute variations in tempo, emphasis, and rubato from one to the other, but, all that being said, it amounts to 22 minutes of the most beautiful, contemplative music ever performed. Almost equally gentle is Spiegel im Spiegel, played as tracks 1, 3 and 5 and scored for piano and, respectively, violin, cello, and then violin again. The instruments mirror one another (Spiegel is German for mirror), with notes added to the scale with each repetition, and so on. Almost impossible to describe in its loveliness, each of the three sets is beautiful; the cello in track 3 gives it extra mellowness. This is music staggering in its simple complexity and a treat for the ear and heart. --Robert Levine
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 62
 For solitary listening November 13, 2009
S. F. Spooner (sheffield,england)
I am a great fan of Part's music and for me this is one of the highlights. It is incredibly intense in a understated and subtle way. You really need to listen to it without any distractions all the way through, preferably by yourself. You will then put it on again. I know of virtually no other music which will make you stop and just breathe in the way this disc does. It is utterly beautiful, incredibly simple and relaxing because you just can't do or think about anything else while you are listening to it.
A music transparent like crystal July 4, 2009
Jean-marc Lepain (Vientiane, Laos)
Of all the music written by Avro Pärt this is my favourite piece. The minimalism of Philip Glass bores me, but here the music is simple and beautiful; not only beautiful but full of spiritual emotion.
Passionate Peace January 28, 2009
S. Alexander
The deep peace felt when being present with this magnificent recording is passionate and humbling.
The pieces are wonderful.... November 18, 2008
Barry Van Gerbig (West Palm Beach, FL)
I felt the music was deeply moving & calming. I can't stand when classical pieces try to be everything to everyone, with soft moments ... leading to cannons firing at the height of it all. The only thing I wish is that some of the pieces were not reprised so often. It would have been nice to hear more originals over the length of the album. Other than that ... it is a wonderful type of music to help disconnect from the daily pressure of being a human!
Music to absorb February 19, 2008
Craig LeHoullier (Raleigh, NC USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This review will be in fragments, as this is how thoughts come to me when listening to this remarkable CD. As I type this, I am listening to it on my iPod, where you can hear the breathing of the musicians, the gentle scratch of the bow on the strings. It is an intimate experience.
The deeply impactful movie "Wit" uses parts of Mirror in Mirror in the soundtrack, and that was our introduction to this music. The search ensued, the CD purchased, and it is one of the gems in our large music collection. It transcends genre, and time.
My dad passed away early last year from a stroke - when he was in hospice, we played this music for him on his last day. It seemed like the most peaceful, soothing, spiritual music that we owned. I hope that he liked it.
This is not music easily understood in a time where movies are loaded with fast edits, where nightly newscasts have segments lasting 30 seconds. This is music to put on when you want to do some thinking, or some escaping, or some relaxing. One reviewer put it very well, in that this music can help you realize that life's chaos, which brings stress and unfulfillment, is just noise, and that through these notes, you can realize that things will be OK.
It is not for everyone - though looking through all of the reviews, it seems to suit many people for many reasons. All I know is that it is one of the most important works I own, and that I will return to it often for the rest of my life.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 62
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