El Greco
Somber, stately, and reverent, the nine untitled movements (and concluding seven-minute epilogue) presented by keyboardist-composer Vangelis convey the mood of a requiem. These 10 lengthy works form a tribute to the respected native of Crete (1541-1614) whose religiously minded paintings (many created in near isolation in the Spanish city of Toledo) are notable, among other reasons, for their singular cross-pollination of Byzantine, Venetian, and Spanish influences. (The artist's nickname, El Greco, is in fact a linguistic merger of Spanish and Greek.) Musically, the recording dwells in a near-classical atmosphere that only occasionally offers any hints of rhythmic progression or ethereal expansiveness. Instead, the music conveys a more formal, classically rooted seriousness that at times features the operatic embellishments of soprano Montserrat Caballe and tenor Kostantinos Paliatsaras. Perhaps the recording's loveliest moments reside in the fifth movement, where Vangelis adorns the sustained earnestness of his work with some gently evocative piano runs. This, however, is an exception to an otherwise weighty musical endeavor.--Terry Wood