The star of composer Peteris Vasks continues to rise, as audiences are touched by his unique blend of styles. He offers influences from minimalism, but adds traditional forms and a personal subjectivity that sets his music decisively apart from that of Arvo Pärt. This release may be a good place to start with Vasks: it pairs an early work with a recent one, and the performances are gorgeous. The Sinfonietta Riga punches well above its weight here (or perhaps the weight is beginning to be fully appreciated), with flawless ...
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The star of composer Peteris Vasks continues to rise, as audiences are touched by his unique blend of styles. He offers influences from minimalism, but adds traditional forms and a personal subjectivity that sets his music decisively apart from that of Arvo Pärt. This release may be a good place to start with Vasks: it pairs an early work with a recent one, and the performances are gorgeous. The Sinfonietta Riga punches well above its weight here (or perhaps the weight is beginning to be fully appreciated), with flawless string work in the 1991 Symphony No. 1 ("Voices"), which Vasks has said reflected something of the serious atmosphere of Latvia's new beginning, free from Soviet control. Sample the skittering retreat of the strings at the end of the first movement. The Viola Concerto of 2014 also has a sense of individual awakening and surveying a troubled landscape, with a marvelous first movement in which the solo viola slowly differentiates from the surrounding string texture. Violist Maxim Rysanov...
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