Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsUneven, unmemorable
Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2021
The musicians are fine. Paert has a history with Gedon Kremer and he does a fine job of interpreting Tabula Rasa, one of Paert's best works. There are a number of recordings of this piece, which belongs in the collection of anyone who enjoys Paert's work, and this one is just fine. So that's 28 minutes of great music. Then there's Glass's "Company". I have a LOT of Philip Glass in the collection, in fact he's probably my favorite living composer, and I have to say that "Company" is going to be most appealing to people like me. It's pretty standard fare for Glass, certainly not his best work, and I'm a bit curious as to how it ended up on this album. Anyway, that's 8 more minutes. Then comes 30 minutes of Martynov's "Come In!". This is quite a disappointment. I haven't heard Martynov before, though I've heard of him, and was hopeful, but.... This piece is repetitive, excessively sweet and lyrical, and the repetitive tapping of a wood block to symbolize "knocking on Heaven's door" is really a bit much, as is the little tinkling bell at the end, I suppose to let you know that Clarence got his wings. 5 or even 8 minutes would be eclectic entertainment; 30 minutes is irritating. The short closing Paert piece is pleasant enough, a bit funereal but good violin playing. All in all, there are a lot of fine CD's by both Paert and Glass that are more worth collecting, and I'll have to investigate Martynov a bit more.
