Skogslandskap Vali

You can tell a great deal about performance quality from one crucial consideration: timing. In the context of Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata as played by Kian Soltani and Aaron Pilsan, it’s in the first movement. Listen to 2'58", an arpeggio piano chord at the close of the exposition, then the pause before the repeated opening – sheer perfection. No one on disc judges it better. The overriding impression is of a watertight musical partnership, one’s attention divided equally between cellist and pianist.

Award-winning composer Reza Vali is a native of Iran but is now based in the United States after studies in Europe. Vali’s distinctive cross-cultural style is founded in a quiet rebellion that saw him return to his Persian musical heritage. Following the dazzling concert opener Ravân, Vali has taken a text by 13th-century poet and mystic, Rumi, two traditional texts, and words by Vali himself, to create the moving cycle The Being of Love, with each song evoking a different aspect of love. Isfahan uses Persian modes and forms, and is among Vali’s most striking microtonal works, pushing the orchestra beyond its usual twelve-note sound-world in an exciting way.

If you have an idea of Northern regions of the world or if you have travelled around Scandinavia then you already know something about Joel Tammik’s works. There’s a lot of space, small fragments and crispness, easily found in first chilly winter days or warm summer nights.
Joel Tammik began his musical journey at the beginning of the 90s playing bass guitar in different school bands. After Estonia’s emancipation and the collision of the iron curtain several cultures of western electronic music appeared on the local world of music and different raves took place in abandoned factory buildings. Around 1996 Joel met with the members of local jungle duo LU:K where he at first played the bass but some years later began also to compose tracks…

For the Del Sol Quartet, this album is a culmination – and also the start of an ongoing musical journey. Terry Riley doesn’t limit his music within a final double-bar but allows it to keep on growing – he’s already composed more music for us to play together. As a quartet, we’ve found new energy and growth through the experience of performing Terry’s quartets off-book, by memory. As musicians, we’ve found an inspiring example – Terry has the strength to follow his own path balanced with the humility and curiosity of an eternal student. For our 25th anniversary festival, we are focusing on Terry’s music and honored that Terry and Gyan will be joining us.

Claudio Abbado uses Mussorgsky's text in a condition almost as complete as Mstislav Rostropovich's but avoiding some overlap from variant readings. He brings to his conducting the same vitality and scrupulous attention to small details that are familiar from his work in Italian opera. His cast is good throughout and particularly strong in the leading roles. This is a Boris to live with, one that gets better with repeated hearings.