The music of Arvo Pärt at Koerner Hall

Paavo Järvi and the Estonian Festival Orchestra don’t skirt all the pitfalls of a single-composer program in an all-Pärt evening at Carnegie Hall.

For the first time in Italy the opera that brings together the spiritual music of the Estonian composer and the minimalist direction of Robert Wilson.

The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir shows poise and elegance in works by fellow Estonians Arvo Pärt and Veljo Tormis. 

A portrait concert of music by Arvo Pärt, while single-mindedly contemplative in tone, proves surprisingly absorbing in the hands of his most authoritative interpreters.

It is pleasing to see concerts of music by living composers well attended, and such was the case at “A Timeless Beauty”, part of the Southbank Centre’s year-long celebration of contemporary music The Rest is Noise. This concert’s theme was “Politics and Spirituality”, and looked to the former Soviet Union for inspiration.Two composers on the programme provided contrasting examples.