ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
It's the time of year when critics compile their best-of lists.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARVO PART SONG, "SIEBEN MAGNIFICAT ANTIPHONEN: IV. O SCHLUSSEL")
SHAPIRO: That's music by Arvo Part, and it's on the list of best classical albums of 2023 from NPR's Tom Huizenga, who reviews classical music for this program. Hey, Tom.
TOM HUIZENGA, BYLINE: Thanks, Ari. Great to be here with you.
SHAPIRO: Tell us more about what we're hearing.
HUIZENGA: Well, the album is titled "Tractus." There are eight pieces composed by the now 85-year-old Estonian Arvo Part. And it's like musical losartan. It will lower your blood pressure. I mean, at least, it does for me.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARVO PART SONG, "SIEBEN MAGNIFICAT ANTIPHONEN: IV. O SCHLUSSEL")
HUIZENGA: I guess what I mean by that is that the music has this uncanny ability to comfort and to soothe. And the opening piece, for instance, is called "Littlemore Tractus," and it's basically a prayer for peace at the end of a frenzied day. I mean, who doesn't need that, right? I mean, you've got these lovely droning strings and tolling bells and in the middle of the piece, something amazing happens when the chorus builds and blossoms into full sunlight.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LITTLEMORE TRACTUS")
ESTONIAN PHILHARMONIC CHAMBER CHOIR: (Singing in non-English language).
HUIZENGA: You know, and I should mention that all of these pieces on the album have sacred connotations, but you really needn't be religious at all to feel the music's power. I mean, there's this silence and space to breathe in Arvo Part's music, and that is deceptively powerful.
SHAPIRO: Amen to that. I've actually been listening to this album a lot, but if this one lowers your blood pressure, I have a sense the next one you've got for us might just raise it.
HUIZENGA: Oh, yeah, but in a good, roller coaster kind of way. The album is called "Dante." It's an evening-length ballet score by the British composer Thomas Ades, and the recording is by the LA Philharmonic with Gustavo Dudamel conducting. And for me, this music just ranks as - among the most fantastical and kaleidoscopic orchestral works of our time. It's based on Dante's "Divine Comedy," and like in the epic poem, we are guided first down into the depths of hell, where we meet all manner of sinners. And the titles that are used are very evocative, like "The Thieves - Devoured By Reptiles." Here's a section we should listen to. It's called "The Suicides - The Bleeding Trees." And the orchestration here is just totally maximalist. It's like some kind of acid trip - nothing short of, well, like a hell ride.
(SOUNDBITE OF THOMAS ADES' "DANTE PT. I: INFERNO, VII. THE SUICIDES - THE BLEEDING TREES")
SHAPIRO: That is wild. OK, bring us back down to something that might feel a little more familiar - a rising star who's a tenor in the opera world.
HUIZENGA: Right. And I can't tell you how great it is as an opera nerd when a new and exciting voice emerges on the scene, and that belongs to Jonathan Tetelman. His album is called "The Great Puccini."
SHAPIRO: And far from Puccini, I read that he used to be a club DJ in New York.
HUIZENGA: He was for three years, and that was after grad school. I mean, he studied first as a baritone - and you can hear that kind of burgundy timbre to his lower register - then he switched to tenor later. But the best thing about his voice for me is just how much pure Italian sunshine pours out of it, whether he's singing hits like "Nessun Dorma," which is on the record, or this one, a more congenial, lesser-known Puccini aria from "La Rondine." It's a snapshot of an ardent young man falling in love with the city of Paris on first sight.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PARIGI! E LA CITTA DEI DESIDERIA")
JONATHAN TETELMAN: (Singing in non-English language).
SHAPIRO: All right, Tom, take us from this newcomer to a veteran. Who's next on your list?
HUIZENGA: Well, next is the comeback record of the year for me. It's pianist Awadagin Pratt who burst on the scene in the '90s with awards and appearances on television programs, but he's been absent from the recording studio for 12 years. And "Stillpoint" is this outstanding comeback album. What he did is he took a few of his favorite lines from a T.S. Eliot poem, handed them to six different composers as a jumping off point, and the result is six very diverse pieces for piano. And let's hear a little sample from composer Jessie Montgomery's "Rounds," which is set up like a miniature piano concerto that features this lovely, rippling main theme.
(SOUNDBITE OF JESSIE MONTGOMERY'S "ROUNDS")
SHAPIRO: That's gorgeous. What do you think are the chances of any of these six pieces entering the repertory, so to speak?
HUIZENGA: Well, I mean, that's always tough with new music because, you know, time has to tell. But, you know, the good news about the music we just heard, "Rounds," is that it already has legs. Pratt has played it with 30 different orchestras since it debuted last year - so, you know, fingers crossed.
SHAPIRO: We've been talking about new music, new performers, new compositions. Now you've got something that takes us way, way, way back.
HUIZENGA: Well, back to 1610 to be exact because that's the name of the piece, the "Vespers Of 1610" of Claudio Monteverdi. And if you think early music is dull, this rendition is scorching.
SHAPIRO: Church music I don't usually think of as scorching. What was it written for?
HUIZENGA: Well, that continues to be debated. Now, on the surface, it looks like a setting for kind of an evening vespers service, but some scholars feel like it's more of a portfolio of sorts of, like, old and new approaches to church music, kind of like Monteverdi's showing off just how innovative he could be. The conductor here, Raphael Pichon, he believes that while it's an expression of faith, it's got this amazing dramatic power - like reaching beyond oneself and grasping for pure joy he says. And he really leans way into that for this recording. It's packed with cinematic drama. You could almost stage it like an opera. Let's hear the very opening track. It starts with a chant, then watch out. It just explodes in brass fanfares and full chorus.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DEUS IN ADJUTORIUM")
UNIDENTIFIED SOLOIST: (Chanting in non-English language).
PYGMALION: (Singing in non-English language).
SHAPIRO: Monteverdi is rocking out.
HUIZENGA: Oh, yeah - in a big way.
SHAPIRO: Tom, last pick - what do you want to take us out on?
HUIZENGA: Oh, you know, I - there's this new discovery I think is just great. The music is by Finnish composer Lotta Wennakoski. She's in her mid-50s, and she knows how to wield a symphony orchestra. It's a very flamboyant piece she wrote for The Last Night of the Proms, the famous summer concert series in London. The album just won a Gramophone Award, and the piece is called "Flounce."
(SOUNDBITE OF LOTTA WENNAKOSKI'S "FLOUNCE")
SHAPIRO: All right, let's just flounce our way to the end of the year. NPR's Tom Huizenga with his best classical albums of 2023. You can see his full list at nprmusic.org. Thanks so much, Tom.
HUIZENGA: My pleasure, Ari.
(SOUNDBITE OF LOTTA WENNAKOSKI'S "FLOUNCE")
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