reviews |SEKÜENCIAS DE CULTO| |nozine|

\|SEKÜENCIAS DE CULTO\| \|nozine\|

ATARAXIA “A Calliope Collection” CD, 2001 FUTURE INSIGHTS/ESSENCE MUSIC “Creating art is wanting to make the world more beautiful, because an artwork, once it’s made, becomes objective beauty, increasing the beauty that already exists in the world.” F. Pessoa – Páginas de Estética e de Teoria e Crítica Literárias After ten years of good music, Ataraxia had come to a crossroad, a good place to look back to the path left behind. From there, their work rises like a heroic chant, an epic poem whispered by Calliope, inspiring Muse invoked or remembered by some of the greatest, like the immortal Homer, Hesiodo in his Teogonía, Sappho, whose poetry is here referenced and included as lyrics, or Camões (just to name a few)... and now, of course, Ataraxia. This epic tale sings the early excellences of the road ran along by these musicians and thinkers, as well as the last steps in the path. With a simple but effective design, Ataraxia and Brazilian Future Insights presents a marvellous compilation of the band. The album comes in a nice slipcase with a large booklet of 32 colourful pages and a standard jewel case with a simple inlay. This inlay gives, basically, technical information (band members, dates, production, design and layout...) while the booklet shows a lot of pictures from Ataraxia’s members (some of them in live concerts), covers of the previous albums and many reviews and words inspired in band’s music, even of their own. There is also an special hand-crafted limited edition to 333 copies (called “The Medieval Edition”), where the above described CD is found inside a sack with the band logo printed in red on the front, and containing, besides the CD, a pin, a paper with a parchment aspect that includes a descriptive text by Francesca Nicoli, and finally some natural aromatic leaves. This nice object was released by Essence Music. As for background, we find again a conceptual work, being water and classical references to be the most noteworthy, with an exceptional guide, Calliope, who lead us to the depths of this musical forest (or must we say ocean?). Water has always been an important inspiration for the band, close-related to femininity essence, and this compilation specially reflects this aspect deliberately, beginning with a watery cover and followed with the songs here selected, which evoke sea landscapes and its mysteries, stillness and infinity as concepts to think about and to delight in. This contemplative and thoughtful mood is also expressed in lyrics, where I love every waving thing (based on Fernando Pessoa’s verses) could be considered the greatest exponent of this kind of water devotion/obsession. This work takes a chronological view over past albums, covering each release, from Ad perpetuam rei memoriam (1990 -which compiled some of the first recordings from the band-), with the song Prophetia, to Sueños (2001) with I love every waving thing, added up with two new songs: Arcana Eco and Calliope. The first one was composed to be included in the “Ducasse” compilation, which appeared later on, while the other one is an exclusive song for this album, who titles this work, both of them delicious adaptations from Sappho’s texts. This renowned Greek poetess is also a referent for Ataraxia; her sensorial and innermost poetry and her search of beauty and love in its purest forms are true inspiration for the band, self-claimed aesthetes, sharing common links with some of these elements. Sappho’s poetry was made to be sung, and so does the band, rescuing fragments from the poetess and adding exquisite melodies. Neoclassical, medieval and atmospheric compositions from the band (with some gothic influences) fit here admirably. We could say that there’s no remarkable song, because almost all of them are brilliant: Prophetia, Elevazione, Ondine, Verdigris Wounds, Rocking Chair of Dreams, Le Ore Rosa Di Mazenderan, Scarlet Leaves, Aperlae (which also evokes Calliope)... A perfect approximation to the band for neophytes and a little treasure for experienced travellers. This album rescues two little pearls like Clytaemestra from In amoris mortisque split 10” with Engelsstaub, and Orlando, A male... from Orlando mini-cd (both of them sold out). Of these two, we should note Clytaemestra as an excellent piece, where the mere presence of Nicola’s voice and the melody of the classic guitar from Vittorio create the appropriate enchanted atmosphere, well-accompanied with an easy melody of a flute. Strong female characters, mostly mythological, had been a reference point in several of the band’s creations; Clytaemestra perfectly reflects that preference, a woman that assumes a non-submissive and resolute role, traditionally masculine, in the absence of her husband, Agamemnon, and shows what has been called “male strength of heart” (obviously, in the terms of the ancient Greek society). Starting off from a sonnet originally created for Helen of Troy by Pablo Neruda, Nicola applies the melancholy tone of the poem with reference to Clytaemestra, sister of Helen, and tries, perhaps, to advise of the tragic future that awaits her, murdered by her own progeny, her son Orestes, who avenged the death of his father. Of all the music composed by Ataraxia, maybe we missed here Mnemosine (from “Sueños” album), a beautiful composition that keeps the mood, style and thematic present in this compilation and that could be part of it with no doubt... This time, curiously, the Titan-Goddess of memory, mother of Calliope and the other Muses, has been unfairly forgotten. Many other pieces should be reviewed here again, but we must turn our sight to the present and future of the band. As we said, two new songs are here included, compositions that still flame our senses and fill our hearts with passion and beauty, like the band did in the past... The first one, Arcana Eco, begins with a beautiful guitar tune, medieval-inspired, which is soon accompanied by Nicola’s chant, a voice that sounds better than ever and carry us away through time and space for a while. At the midst of the piece the composition “takes a breath” and stops for a moment, the rhythm changes and the acoustic guitar begins a quicker melody, the song then becomes more solemn and ceremonial, with the introduction of male back vocals, at first, and a more operatic Nicola, at the end. A splendid song that brings again the warm and sweet breeze of the past Arcana Europa performance in Spain. Finally, A Calliope maintains a sweet and parsimonious melody along the composition, with a distant drum giving a solemn touch, a dreamy ambient beautified by a soft guitar and, of course, Nicola’s highs and lows, intimate sometimes, grandiloquent others, but passionate in both cases; the Muse is again and above all the center of the piece, a delicate and sensitive fragment where the poetess suffers with the absence of the Muse and begs her presence just to feel loved and gifted again, like in past times. Much more can be said, but all in all music remains to speak with its own language. Even if there were things that could be reproached to the band, none of them could be the passion they put within their art. Excelsior! Raúl Rojo [BACK]

|SEKÜENCIAS DE CULTO| |nozine|

ATARAXIA “A Calliope Collection” CD, 2001 FUTURE INSIGHTS/ESSENCE MUSIC

“Creating art is wanting to make the world more beautiful, because an artwork, once it’s made, becomes objective beauty, increasing the beauty that already exists in the world.”

F. Pessoa – Páginas de Estética e de Teoria e Crítica Literárias

After ten years of good music, Ataraxia had come to a crossroad, a good place to look back to the path left behind. From there, their work rises like a heroic chant, an epic poem whispered by Calliope, inspiring Muse invoked or remembered by some of the greatest, like the immortal Homer, Hesiodo in his Teogonía, Sappho, whose poetry is here referenced and included as lyrics, or Camões (just to name a few)... and now, of course, Ataraxia. This epic tale sings the early excellences of the road ran along by these musicians and thinkers, as well as the last steps in the path.

With a simple but effective design, Ataraxia and Brazilian Future Insights presents a marvellous compilation of the band. The album comes in a nice slipcase with a large booklet of 32 colourful pages and a standard jewel case with a simple inlay. This inlay gives, basically, technical information (band members, dates, production, design and layout...) while the booklet shows a lot of pictures from Ataraxia’s members (some of them in live concerts), covers of the previous albums and many reviews and words inspired in band’s music, even of their own. There is also an special hand-crafted limited edition to 333 copies (called “The Medieval Edition”), where the above described CD is found inside a sack with the band logo printed in red on the front, and containing, besides the CD, a pin, a paper with a parchment aspect that includes a descriptive text by Francesca Nicoli, and finally some natural aromatic leaves. This nice object was released by Essence Music.

As for background, we find again a conceptual work, being water and classical references to be the most noteworthy, with an exceptional guide, Calliope, who lead us to the depths of this musical forest (or must we say ocean?). Water has always been an important inspiration for the band, close-related to femininity essence, and this compilation specially reflects this aspect deliberately, beginning with a watery cover and followed with the songs here selected, which evoke sea landscapes and its mysteries, stillness and infinity as concepts to think about and to delight in. This contemplative and thoughtful mood is also expressed in lyrics, where I love every waving thing (based on Fernando Pessoa’s verses) could be considered the greatest exponent of this kind of water devotion/obsession.

This work takes a chronological view over past albums, covering each release, from Ad perpetuam rei memoriam (1990 -which compiled some of the first recordings from the band-), with the song Prophetia, to Sueños (2001) with I love every waving thing, added up with two new songs: Arcana Eco and Calliope. The first one was composed to be included in the “Ducasse” compilation, which appeared later on, while the other one is an exclusive song for this album, who titles this work, both of them delicious adaptations from Sappho’s texts.

This renowned Greek poetess is also a referent for Ataraxia; her sensorial and innermost poetry and her search of beauty and love in its purest forms are true inspiration for the band, self-claimed aesthetes, sharing common links with some of these elements. Sappho’s poetry was made to be sung, and so does the band, rescuing fragments from the poetess and adding exquisite melodies.

Neoclassical, medieval and atmospheric compositions from the band (with some gothic influences) fit here admirably. We could say that there’s no remarkable song, because almost all of them are brilliant: Prophetia, Elevazione, Ondine, Verdigris Wounds, Rocking Chair of Dreams, Le Ore Rosa Di Mazenderan, Scarlet Leaves, Aperlae (which also evokes Calliope)... A perfect approximation to the band for neophytes and a little treasure for experienced travellers.

This album rescues two little pearls like Clytaemestra from In amoris mortisque split 10” with Engelsstaub, and Orlando, A male... from Orlando mini-cd (both of them sold out). Of these two, we should note Clytaemestra as an excellent piece, where the mere presence of Nicola’s voice and the melody of the classic guitar from Vittorio create the appropriate enchanted atmosphere, well-accompanied with an easy melody of a flute. Strong female characters, mostly mythological, had been a reference point in several of the band’s creations; Clytaemestra perfectly reflects that preference, a woman that assumes a non-submissive and resolute role, traditionally masculine, in the absence of her husband, Agamemnon, and shows what has been called “male strength of heart” (obviously, in the terms of the ancient Greek society). Starting off from a sonnet originally created for Helen of Troy by Pablo Neruda, Nicola applies the melancholy tone of the poem with reference to Clytaemestra, sister of Helen, and tries, perhaps, to advise of the tragic future that awaits her, murdered by her own progeny, her son Orestes, who avenged the death of his father.

Of all the music composed by Ataraxia, maybe we missed here Mnemosine (from “Sueños” album), a beautiful composition that keeps the mood, style and thematic present in this compilation and that could be part of it with no doubt... This time, curiously, the Titan-Goddess of memory, mother of Calliope and the other Muses, has been unfairly forgotten.

Many other pieces should be reviewed here again, but we must turn our sight to the present and future of the band. As we said, two new songs are here included, compositions that still flame our senses and fill our hearts with passion and beauty, like the band did in the past...

The first one, Arcana Eco, begins with a beautiful guitar tune, medieval-inspired, which is soon accompanied by Nicola’s chant, a voice that sounds better than ever and carry us away through time and space for a while. At the midst of the piece the composition “takes a breath” and stops for a moment, the rhythm changes and the acoustic guitar begins a quicker melody, the song then becomes more solemn and ceremonial, with the introduction of male back vocals, at first, and a more operatic Nicola, at the end. A splendid song that brings again the warm and sweet breeze of the past Arcana Europa performance in Spain.

Finally, A Calliope maintains a sweet and parsimonious melody along the composition, with a distant drum giving a solemn touch, a dreamy ambient beautified by a soft guitar and, of course, Nicola’s highs and lows, intimate sometimes, grandiloquent others, but passionate in both cases; the Muse is again and above all the center of the piece, a delicate and sensitive fragment where the poetess suffers with the absence of the Muse and begs her presence just to feel loved and gifted again, like in past times.

Much more can be said, but all in all music remains to speak with its own language. Even if there were things that could be reproached to the band, none of them could be the passion they put within their art. Excelsior!

Raúl Rojo

[BACK]