This release by French-Canadian violinist
Angèle Dubeau falls into a category that hardly existed at the turn of the century, but now has grown increasingly common: the solo recording devoted to music by minimalist composers. These have grown more common, but
Dubeau and her all-female ensemble
La Pietà have made it into something of a specialty, releasing albums devoted to
John Adams,
Arvo Pärt,
Philip Glass, and
Ludovico Einaudi. This one, taking up music by
Max Richter, adds a sort of double wrinkle, for some of
Richter's compositions are based on (or, to use his word, "recomposed") existing works, some quite familiar. Thus making a violin version is a sort of double recomposition. This said, the album is consistent with what
Dubeau has done in the past. A major unsung contributor is her co-arranger François Vallières; the two neatly answer the question of how you can make a virtuoso violin album out of the generally basic, melodic material of minimalism.
Dubeau's violin weaves gracefully around the ensemble, sometimes barely audible, sometimes coming more to the foreground, sometimes adding an eerie element with harmonics. What you're getting here is ambient, minimalist textures, with little variety in mood and tempo, but the effects are quite subtle within this frame. You could try this out if you've seen
Dubeau's recordings notching strong sales in Canada and elsewhere, and have wondered what they're all about. ~ James Manheim