Sarah Aristidou - Enigma - Deutschen Schallplattenkritik

The voice floats, breathes, whispers, screams. Shadowed, starry. Unprotected, a cappella, Sarah Aristidou gives herself over to Andreas Tsiartas’ ‘Lamento turco’ – with flawless technique, natural expression, and creative intelligence. Whether she is tracing Schubert’s echoes of the end of time (‘Der Hirt auf dem Felsen’) or Messiaen’s cosmically-clashing concision (‘Répétition planétaire’), or improvising on the ‘enigma’ of creation with her piano partner Gerzenburg – the music here remains an existential experience throughout. Not least the sparse yet vibrant ‘Sphinxensprüche und Rätselkanons’, which Jörg Widmann wrote for Aristidou. Breathtakingly beautiful.