Part: Piano Music, Zwei Sonatinen/ Partita/ Lamentate

Ralph van Raat (born 1978) is a Dutch classical pianist who has performed as a recitalist and soloist around the world with some the finest conductors. His special affinity is for contemporary classical music and in this recording he ha devoted the entire program to works by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt.

van Raat's technical facility serves him well with the various works he plays here. He opens the recital with a brief but crystalline pure performance of the little Opus 1, No.2 Piano Sonatine which pairs or contrasts Allegro movements with Largo movements so typical of the timeless space with which Pärt has become identified. The surprise on this recital is the every complex cascade of notes and runs in the Partita, Opus 2 in four movements: Toccatina, Fughetta, Larghetto, and Ostinato, and dates back to 1959. This is the type of piece that demonstrates the dexterity of a pianist and van Raat fulfills all the demands.

The Variations for the Healing of Arinushka is one Pärt's more meditative works. Though brief - six movements in three minutes! it begins with a one note theme and then progresses through his tintinnabuli technique intended to mimic the ringing of bells, the power of a single note beautifully played. Pärt has said of this brief but important work, 'I could compare my music to white light which contains all colors. Only a prism can divide the colors and make them appear; this prism could be the spirit of the listener.' For this listener it is the highlight of the recital, especially as so poignantly played by Ralph van Rant. This treasure is then followed by immaculate performances two of Pärt's best known works - 'Fur Alina' and the minute long 'Fur Anna Maria.'

Joining Ralph van Saat on this recording is JoAnne Faletta conducting the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic in the exquisite 'Lamentate'. It is a brilliantly successful composition. Written in response to his sense of encountering the concept of his own mortality upon viewing a sculptural work by avant-garde artist Anish Kapoor, Pärt composed this work for piano and orchestra. Divided into ten parts the work embraces the spectrum of living from crashing complexities of massive instrumental forces to quiet meditations and ethereal, spiritual lines of exquisite beauty. There are no voices for this 'requiem' and the work is not a true piano concerto in the strictest sense: the piano serves to embroider the orchestral tonal clouds and moves much the way Pärt has used the voice in his other compositions. Ralph van Saat knows how to incorporate the piano part with the small orchestra in a way that makes the entire piece seem simply like a chamber work. It is perfectly performed as is the entire program. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, November 11