|
Although I’ve only known about Italy’s
Ataraxia since 2003, I have really enjoyed the albums I’ve
heard from them (Sueños, The Moon Sang On The April Chair, and
Saphir). So when this new Split album with fellow Italians
Autunna et sa Rose showed up in my mailbox I was more than
happy. I feel a little embarrassed though since I’ve never
heard the music of Autunna et sa Rose before, and heck up till
now I never even knew there name.
‘Odos Eis Ouranon - La Via Verso il Cielo’ is a special
album because it features the best songs from both bands
performed in an acoustic manner. Ataraxia’s song were recorded
at St. Ruffino’s in February 2005, while Autunna et sa Rose’s
performance was recorded live at St. Michele’s Church in
Rovigno Italy in May of 2003.
I really appreciate Ataraxia’s songs on this double album
because they sound a bit different than their normal studio
work. As you may know normally Ataraxia sounds more medieval,
renaissance, folky sounding, but here they tend to sound more
neo classical than anything else. They use instruments like
flute, piano, classical guitar, timpani & other percussion
instruments and when combined with Francesca’s always
outstanding operatic vocals you just know you’re in for a real
treat. The highlights for me are ‘Strange Lights’ a new yet
unreleased song, ‘Bonthrop’ from the ‘Orlando’ album, the very
beautiful medieval ballad ‘Ophélie’ from the ‘La Mulediction
d’Ordine’ album, as well as others like ‘Seas of the Moon,’
‘Veules Les Roses,’ and ‘Medusa.’ So as you can see I’m quite
impressed. Not to forget the songs are also recorded
excellently, the musicianship is marvelous, and it’s always a
pleasure to hear Francesca’s magnificently soaring and
powerful voice.
On to the second CD then with Autunna et sa Rose. Autunna
perform as a three piece in what would seem like a more
stripped down performance since they use just a cello and
piano for the music and Sonia Visentin’s soprano vocals, and
Disorder’s male vocals. Most of the songs on this recording
are largely instrumental, and even when Sonia is singing she’s
not always singing any actual words. Disorder’s vocals are
either performed in a spoken narration like manner or he’s
singing with more of a bassy operatic voice. Autunna et sa
Rose’s compositions are certainly effective, yet since its
just two instruments providing the music you can’t help but
desire one or more additionally instruments. The song that
stands out the most for me is ‘Canzona,’ which honestly
reminds me of Ataraxia. A pretty decent concert and the
audience cheers seem to indicate they had a good time at this
show. I’ll most likely explore this band further since I’m
curious about their studio work.
Overall ‘Odos Eis Ouranon - La Via Verso il Cielo’ is a
pleasant split release between these two bands, and it comes
as a double CD digipak, complete with booklets that have
linear notes, lyrics, artwork, and photos. Thus if your in the
mood for some Italian neo classical then you can definitely
hope to add this to your collection.
July 13, 2005
By JJM
7.5 of 10
|
CD I: Ataraxia - Strange Lights: