Fans of
Arvo Pärt's tintinnabular choral music will be pleased with the
Hilliard Ensemble's performance of Da Pacem Domine for a cappella choir (2004), which, at just over five minutes, is unusually short, but otherwise familiar in its meditative tone and chaste harmonies. However, these same listeners will feel surprised, startled, put off, or even cheated by the intensely dramatic and disturbingly dissonant opening of Lamentate for piano and orchestra (2002); anyone who expects the calmness or "chill-out" qualities of
Pärt's choral music will be sorely disappointed by the disjointedness and violence of the introductory Minacciando. Others with open minds may give Lamentate a fair chance to get rolling, and let
Pärt develop his work fully before passing judgment. Regrettably, this ten-movement piece lacks direction, shows no development, and meanders into long stretches of silence, repeated-note tedium, and slow arpeggios, alleviated only by the powerful section marked Stridendo and the penultimate Risolutamente (which at least show some gumption.) One may admire pianist
Aleksei Lubimov's control (and patience!) throughout this work's extremely sustained pianissimos, and feel that the
SWR Radio-sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, conducted by
Andrey Boreyko, is fully engaged in the few tutti. But Lamentate is disappointing in its looseness and lack of ideas, and at 37 frustrating minutes, it is a lamentable waste of time.