Kancheli, Pärt, Rachmaninov, Shostakovich: Echoes of Time - Lisa Batiashvili

Lisa Batiashvili's debut album for DG is a matter of the heart - Lisa focuses her program on composers whose lives and work have been heavily influenced by the political happenings in the former Soviet Union. The program spans the 20th century, classics by Shostakovich 'Waltz from the Doll's Dances' and Rachmaninov's ever popular 'Vocalise', are combined with Estonian, Arvo Pärt's 'Spiegel im Spiegel'. "It's a marvellous performance [of the Shostakovich], suitably crepuscular in the opening "Nocturne", before a Gypsy flamboyance takes over for "Scherzo". Salonen proves the perfect accomplice in realising the album's theme of works reflective of the Soviet era, the programme including pieces by Soviet emigrés Arvo Pärt and Giya Kancheli" The Independent, 11th February 2011 ****