Text: Paulo Filipe & Ísis Calió, 4-Apr-2004
Photos: Ísis Calió (TO BE UPDATED)

Having we entered the room to the sound of the second song, we saw the place completely full. All 240 tickets were sold in few days, three weeks before the concert. The audience present included other nationalities besides the Portuguese, in a beautiful room in yellow/brown tones, but essentially filled of people wearing black.

In a theatrical and solemn style, ATARAXIA filled the room with their life and their music, led by the sometimes very smooth, sometimes strong voice of Francesca Nicoli, always showing a lot concentration. With his blond hair and a long and tight black dress, personified all the beautiful atmosphere that the band managed to transmit during all the concert. At her right side, Vittorio Vandelli, supporting with some backing vocals, while his fingers show to be skillful in making diverse medieval instruments (similar to acoustic guitars) sing, always sat down in his woodchair.

On the other side and always standing, Giovanni Pagliari deepened the dark ambiences with his keyboard, alternating more classical organs with synthetic sounds of more modern and/or Gothic sonorities. Always very reserved, he sometimes approached himself to the front to accompany Francesca with a really male toned voice, but with a magnificent tone at a gregorian style. Everything always in the most perfect harmony, they were rhythmically accompanied by the most recent and younger member from the band, Riccardo Spaggiari, which uses varied kinds of percussion with an impressive naturalness, from the drums to other more rustic instruments, passing by some metal percussions.

Along their already long discography, ATARAXIA explored an immense range of sounds, atmospheres and scenaries. Such journey was extraordinarily well transmited in this live performance, while traversing diverse albums from their career. Our feelings were taken through an authentic journey in time, that sometimes seemed to reach spatial proportions, such the facility with how their music seems to make us float. Difficult to describe something that can only be felt, but above all the word that comes to our mind is Harmony. Medieval musical scenarios, sometimes religious, but almost always sacred, where the placid and lyrical voice of Francesca, with a melancholic acting, filled with movements every single one of them following the stream of energy that the music transmits, in a whole that drives us to a real trance.

The concert was clearly divided in two parts. On the first one, the band presented the new album, "Saphir", released this Spring of 2004 and inspired in the "magical, symbolic and mystical nature of the gardens". As always, the music is here an instrument of transposition to a level of the myth and dream. Obviously, the songs were still not of the knowledge of the audience in general, but the reactions were very positive. In general, flowing in a calm enough rhythm, the beauty is here the most important thing. The last song, "The Gentle Sleep" received bigger applauses, in a time that the group abandoned the stage.

Five minutes later, they reenter the stage, with the clothing of Francesca slightly different and, this time, the hair seized with two plaits and over it a thin crown of diamonds. Initiating a new period, the songs got more fast and barely without breaks, giving a sensation of circular and intense sound, something well obtained, even with songs from different albums. The theatrical posture of Francesca assumed a even stronger role, where the music was visually complemented by sober and smooth dance movements, compassed with small instruments of percussion used in her hands, such as bells and chimes. Finishing with "Encrucijada", from the album "Sueños" (where the Castilian assumes a main role), there was still passages by the fundamental sounds of "Tu Es La Force du Silence", already from 1991, or "Astemilusa" (from "La Malédiction d'Ondine", of 1995), until "Aperlae", from the "Lost Atlantis", of 1999.

In an imagery where diverse cultures mix in one identity (let's call it european?), where the Italian is heard so naturally as the Castilian and the French, also the Portuguese language was not forgotten. After hour and half of concert, the audience asked for more, and ATARAXIA offered to the Portuguese public "Nossa Senhora dos Anjos", a track only released in a video edition from 1998, "Os Cavaleiros do Templo", recorded in Portugal. Apart from that, one more passage through their previous release, "Lost Atlantis", with "Oduarpa". Leaving the stage again, the audience maintained thirsty for more music, to which the group answered for the last time. Entering the stage only with Francesca and Giovanni in the keyboard, and a light much clearer in the bottom of the stage, they came back to the "Lost Atlantis" album, this time with "Daytia" and they repeated "The Gentle Sleep", leaving the public in ecstacy.

And like this it was one more passage of ATARAXIA by Portugal, which at the end of a hour and 45 minutes left us with pity of not being testimonied by more, but leaving the ones there with a privileged feeling of satisfaction by having the opportunity to attend a concert where the music assumed so intimate proportions.

setlist:
Azar
Jardin de Lune
Outremer
Rue Bleue
D’Arc et d'Harpe
A Green for Her Voice
The Gentle Sleep
(intermission)
Arcana Eco
Veules Les Roses
Antire
Astemilusa
Tu Es La Force du Silence
Aperlae
Encrucijada
encore:
Nossa Senhora dos Anjos
Oduarpa
encore:
Daytia
The Gentle Sleep