Alina Pogostkina, Sinfonietta Riga, Juha Kangas - Peteris Vasks: Vox Amoris - Works for Violin and String Orchestra (2012)

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Alina Pogostkina, Sinfonietta Riga, Juha Kangas - Peteris Vasks: Vox Amoris - Works for Violin and String Orchestra (2012)

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Encountering the works of a composer for the first time with the graces of an instrumentalist previously unknown to the listener makes for a bracing experience. That memorable experience occurred for this listener at a LA Philharmonic concert, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, where the Peteris Vasks's `Tala gaisma' or Distant Light, Concerto for violin and String Orchestra was performed by the young, inordinately beautiful, immensely gifted Alina Pogostkina. It would be difficult to imagine a more perfect musical experience.

Vasks' music is so well crafted that it seems spontaneous. His obvious influences are Arvo Pärt, Giya Kancheli and Henryk Górecki in that he approaches shimmering stillness that seems to come from both the innermost parts of the globe and the unreachable extents of the universe. He is also capable of writing technically complex glissandos of sound that challenge not only the soloist by also the various string sections of the orchestra. Peteris Vasks' music should be viewed against the socially and politically turbulent history of his home country Latvia. All three pieces, here, according to Vasks, represent the polarity between optimistic hope for a better future and an anxious concern for the modern world.

According to Vasks, `Vox Amoris has to do with the strongest force in the world - love. I hope that this piece touches the listener and makes the world a little more friendly and open for love." With the violin, the "voice of love", the listener experiences different sensations from a gentle blossoming to open passion. `Tala gaisma' (Distant Light), Vasks' first and so far most extensive work for violin and string orchestra. Its form consists of a sequence of strongly contrasting episodes that are partly influenced by Latvian folk music. There are no separations in the work save for three extraordinary cadenzas of the violin, cadenzas that are at once challenging to execute and rapturous to hear. For the third work on this recording, `Vientulais engeli' (Lonely Angel) Vasks had a special image in mind: "I saw an angel, flying over the world; the angel looks at the world's condition with grieving eyes, but an almost imperceptible, loving touch of the angel's wings brings comfort and healing. This piece is my music after the pain.'

Alina Pogostkina, born in St. Petersburg but trained in Germany as of 1992, is an exceptional artist. She performs on a Stradivari (Cremona 1709) that adds to the fullness of her tone. Her bowing technique and her dexterity with the double stops, trills, pizzicatos and col legno demonstrate a technical facility far beyond her years. Juha Kangas conducts the Sinfonietta Riga in perfect tandem with Vasks and Pogostkina. This is a truly remarkable recording of some of the most beautiful music being composed today.

Review by Grady Harp

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Alina Pogostkina, Sinfonietta Riga, Juha Kangas - Peteris Vasks: Vox Amoris - Works for Violin and String Orchestra (2012)

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Alina Pogostkina, Sinfonietta Riga, Juha Kangas - Peteris Vasks: Vox Amoris - Works for Violin and String Orchestra (2012)

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Alina Pogostkina, Sinfonietta Riga, Juha Kangas - Peteris Vasks: Vox Amoris - Works for Violin and String Orchestra (2012)

Close