Hi-Res Downloads

96kHz/24-bit FLAC*, ECM 476 3878 (supplied by www.highresaudio.com)

Perhaps reissued to mark Arvo Pärt’s recent 80th birthday, this was a ground-breaking album release on LP in 1984 and some of the music was soon taken up by other artists: fellow Estonian Neeme Järvi with Cantus, Tasmin Litle with Fratres. ECM’s programme has 12 Berlin Philharmonic cellists playing it and the violin/piano version with Gidon Kremer and Keith Jarrett. Tabula Rasa is for two solo violins, prepared piano (Schnittke playing, no less) and small orchestra. Cantus, a threnody with strings and final tolling bell, written in memory of Britten, especially had a cult following (though it doesn’t inspire me!). These variously sourced recordings, 1977-84, sound mainly clean and open, although strings can become edgy as the dynamics increase. HRA provides a booklet PDF. CB

Sound Quality: 75%

Hi-Fi News Lab Report

‘Remastered for 2015’ but spectral analysis clearly shows Cantus and Fratres (both versions) are 96kHz upsamples of 44.1kHz files, presumably from the 2008 CD release [see Graph]. The Tabula Rasa is a 48kHz-to-96kHz upsample. PM