venerdì 31 ottobre 2014

Recensione di Storm di Joe Morris e Chris Cretella, 2014



Una vera e proprio tempesta di corde, plettri, unghie e chitarre con le corde di nylon. Se “nomen est omen” il titolo del cd rappresenta perfettamente i contenuti musicali in esso rinchiusi, Joe Morris e Chris Cretella agiscono a 360 gradi suonando le loro chitarre classiche in modo innovativo e diverso dal solito. Nelle loro complesse costruzioni improvvisative creano una articolata architettura sonora nel quale la normale e conosciuta timbrica della chitarra classica viene completamente sconvolta.
Perché stupirsene? E’ dal 1969 che Joe Morris ha scelto di gestire la propria carriera e la propria visione musicale sempre all’insegna della ricerca, dell’innovazione e del puro integralismo creativo. Coerenza, integrità e puro spirito artistico sono da sempre le motivazioni che lo spingono a spingere sempre più avanti i limiti della propria creatività, motivazioni che qui troviamo perfettamente condivise da Chris Cretella, suo allievo presso il New England Conservatory of Music.
Il risultato non è sicuramente un cd dalle soluzioni melodiche o orecchiabili ma l’espressione di un pensiero artistico, musicale, creativo e improvvisativo radicale, innovativo che richiede un ascolto impegnato, intenso e dedicato. Non lasciatevi spaventare dalle cascate di suoni e dal carattere torrenziale della loro musica: Storm è una delle cose più interessanti che ho ascoltato nel 2014.

Molto bello anche il packaging del cd, semplice, minimale, pulito e preciso. Spero che le mie foto possano renderne giustizia.



giovedì 30 ottobre 2014

Joe Morris playlist on Blog Chitarra e Dintorni


JOE MORRIS was born in New Haven, Connecticut on September 13, 1955. At the age of 12 he took lessons on the trumpet for one year. He started on guitar in 1969 at the age of 14. He played his first professional gig later that year. With the exception of a few lessons he is self-taught. The influence of Jimi Hendrix and other guitarists of that period led him to concentrate on learning to play the blues. Soon thereafter his sister gave him a copy of John Coltrane's OM, which inspired him to learn about Jazz and New Music. From age 15 to 17 he attended The Unschool, a student-run alternative high school near the campus of Yale University in downtown New Haven. Taking advantage of the open learning style of the school he spent most of his time day and night playing music with other students, listening to ethnic folk, blues, jazz, and classical music on record at the public library and attending the various concerts and recitals on the Yale campus. He worked to establish his own voice on guitar in a free jazz context from the age of 17. Drawing on the influence of Coltrane, Miles Davis, Cecil Taylor,Thelonius Monk, Ornette Coleman as well as the AACM, BAG, and the many European improvisers of the '70s. Later he would draw influence from traditional West African string music, Messian, Ives, Eric Dolphy, Jimmy Lyons, Steve McCall and Fred Hopkins. After high school he performed in rock bands, rehearsed in jazz bands and played totally improvised music with friends until 1975 when he moved to Boston....

http://www.joe-morris.com/


mercoledì 29 ottobre 2014

Guitars Speak: Marta Dolzadelli e le Free Classical Guitars


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La puntata di questa sera,mercoledì 29 ottobre sarà dedicata alla chitarra contemporanea, da un lato il cd Frame di Marta Dolzadelli dedicato alle interazioni tra le arti figurative e la musica per la chitarra contemporanea,dall'altro l'approccio improvvisativo e radicalmente innovativo presentato nel cd Free Classical Guitars uscito nel 2010 per la casa discografica indipendente belga FF HHH

The episode of this evening,Wednesday, October 29th will be dedicated to contemporary guitar, on the one hand the cd Frame by Marta Dolzadelli devoted to the interactions between visual arts and contemporary music for the guitar, on the other hand the radically innovative and improvisational approach presented in the Free Classical Guitars cd released in 2010 by the Belgian independent record label FF HHH

http://radiovocedellasperanza.it/



martedì 28 ottobre 2014

COLLETTIVO RITUALE PER «AUTUNNO CALDO A NORD-EST»

VENEZIA ALL’INCROCIO TRA GRECIA, ORIENTE E AUSTRALIA:
IL COLLETTIVO RITUALE PER «AUTUNNO CALDO A NORD-EST»: 

Prosegue per il sesto anno consecutivo, nel quadro delle produzioni del Conservatorio  Benedetto Marcello di Venezia, l’attività di Collettivo Rituale, il gruppo di studio di repertori Fluxus passati e presenti fondato nel 2009 da Riccardo Vaglini all'interno della classe di composizione del Conservatorio di musica Benedetto Marcello di Venezia, gruppo aperto a musicisti professionisti, non professionisti e a non musicisti. Vaglini propone quest'anno in Palazzo Pisani, per il festival denominato «Autunno caldo a Nord-Est», un’intensa maratona dedicata alla performance, suddivisa in due giorni consecutivi e ripartita in quattro eventi: inaugurazione il 29 ottobre alle 16.00 con i video «Adiaphorisma» di Sara Tozzato, punto di partenza di un progetto di sonorizzazione online aperto ai compositori di tutto il mondo e «Noos», progetto collettivo di videoartisti, compositori e interpreti riuniti sotto l’etichetta di Gruppo MOA; il festival prosegue con la performance del soprano Frauke Aulbert su musiche di Nono e Aperghis, di Gisbert Watty e Gianantonio Rossi con brani dell’australiano Thomas Reiner e di Marco Marinoni, che cura anche l’elettronica e la regia del suono dell’intero festival; alle 17 è la volta di un «Inventario» dedicato “alla memoria di Francesco Orlando e dei suoi inesauribili cataloghi”, ampio lavoro di Vaglini in prima italiana commissionato nel 2012 da Astra Choir di Melbourne, ed eseguito dal coro Astra – prima tappa di una tourné in Italia e in Romania – sotto la direzione di John McCaughey e con la partecipazione dell’attore Pietro Malavenda, del Collettivo Rituale e degli strumentisti Gisbert Watty, Kim Bastin, Igor Zobin e Paola Furetta; alle 18 il programma prosegue con «Pictures in Blue and White», inedito recital della pianista Erato Alakiozidou tutto dedicato alla nuova musica greca; conclude la prima giornata una novità assoluta elettronica di Marco Marinoni, che cura la regia del suono dell’intero festival; la maratona prosegue la mattina del giorno 31 alle 11 con due performances Fluxus nei cortili del palazzo sullo scalone monumentale e nella ex-palestra: la prima è curata da The Astra Improvising Choir, un gruppo vocale che propone un inedito mix di canti di uccelli della foresta pluviale australiana, canzoni giavanesi e balinesi mescolate a armonie corali romene; la seconda è curata dallo stesso Collettivo Rituale, che propone «Fluxf/e/a/st», scelta di fulminanti azioni risalenti agli anni ‘60 di Genpei Akasegawa, Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik, Takehisa Kosugi, Mieko Shiomi. 
Tutti gli appuntamenti sono a ingresso libero fino a esaurimento posti. Info 041.5225604

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 2 VIDEO:
Tozzato: Adiaphorisma
MOA: Noos (framm.)
 
 4 PERFORMANCES:
Aulbert/Marinoni/Rossi/Watty: Aperghis/Globokar/Nono/Reiner/Rossi
The Astra Choir/McCaughey/Collettivo Rituale/Vaglini: Inventario
Alakiozidou: Pictures in Blue and White
Collettivo Rituale/The Astra Improvising Choir: Fluxf/e/a/st

36 PERFORMER / GRUPPI:
Danilo Abiti, Erato Alakiozidou, Luisa Antoni, Frauke Aulbert, Alessandro Baglioni, Sabina Bakholdina, Kim Bastin, Louisa Billeter, Filippo Bresolin, Marco Canil, Maura Capuzzo, Lucas Carl Christ, Collettivo Rituale, Paola Furetta, Gianluca Geremia, Steven Hodgson, Jerzy Kozlowski, Aredion Lici, Pietro Malavenda, Marco Marinoni, Luisa Messinis, John McCaughey, Luisa Messinis, Ben Owen, Jozef Pjetri, Joan Pollock, Alessio Rossato, Gianantonio Rossi, Catrina Seiffert, The Astra Choir, The Astra Improvising Choir, Matthew Thomson, Sara Tozzato, Riccardo Vaglini, Gisbert Watty, Igor Zobin, Carlo Zorzini 
 
25 AUTORI, 5 PRIME ASSOLUTE, 11 PRIME ITALIANE   
Gempei Akasegawa, Theodoros Antoniou, Nikolas Astrinidis, Maura Capuzzo, Carlo Ciceri, 
Manos Hadjidakis, Yannis Konstantinidis, Takehisa Kosugi, Giorgos Koumendakis, Giorgos 
Kouroupos, Marco Marinoni, Gruppo MOA, Lien Nollet, Luigi Nono, Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik, 
Yannis A. Papayoannou, Thomas Reiner, Gianantonio Rossi, Mieko Shiomi, Nikos Skalkottas, 
Savvas Tsiligiridis, Kalliopi Tsoupaki, Riccardo Vaglini, Chiara Verdesca [Boris  Colorblind], Roberto Vetrano


COLLETTIVO RITUALE 2014 AUTUNNO CALDO A NORD-EST: COORDINAMENTO RICCARDO VAGLINI
VENEZIA PALAZZO PISANI 29-30.10.2014: V PIANO AULA 117; SCALONE MONUMENTALE; SECONDO CORTILE 

INGRESSO LIBERO FINO A ESAURIMENTO POSTI. INFO 041.5225604

Review of Storm by Joe Morris and Chris Cretella, 2014



A full-fledged storm of strings, picks, nails and guitars with nylon strings. If "Nomen est omen" the title of this black cd gives perfectly the idea of the music content locked up inside, Joe Morris and Chris Cretella act at 360 degrees playing their classical guitars in an innovative and different form. In their complex constructions they create a structured improvisational sound architecture in which the normal and known timbre of the classical guitar is completely distraught.
Why being hardly surprised? It’s since 1969 that Joe Morris has chosen to manage his career and his own musical vision always dedicating himself to research, innovation and a pure creative fundamentalism. Consistency, integrity and pure spirit of art are always the reasons that led him to always push the limits of his creativity, motivation, here perfectly shared by Chris Cretella, his student at the New England Conservatory of Music.
The result is definitely not a melodic or catchy cd but the expression of an artistic, musical, creative and improvisational, radical and innovative thought that requires a committed intense and dedicated listening. Do not be frightened by the sounds of waterfalls and torrential nature of their music: Storm is one of the most interesting things that I have heard in 2014.

Very nice also the packaging of the cd, simple, minimal, clean and precise. I hope that my pictures can make justice.




lunedì 27 ottobre 2014

Interview with Joe Morris by Andrea Aguzzi for Blog Chitarra e Dintorni


The first question is always the classic one: how does it start your love and interest for guitar and what instruments do you play or have you played?

The Beatles are the cause of my interest in guitar. I started playing when I was 14 years old. Later it was blues, Jimi Hendrix and the rest of the rock guitar material. I began improvising after hearing Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton. I learned to play standards and then began a self-directed course of study in guitar and improvisation. I’ve only had a few guitar lessons, otherwise I am self-taught. I played trumpet for about a year when I was 12 years old. I began playing double bass in 2000 at age 45. I am a decent improviser on piano and drums, but I have never performed on either one, yet.

You have released a new album with Chris Cretella, called Storms. How did it start this collaboration e and why did you choose to play classical guitars?

Chris was my student at New England Conservatory of Music. I knew him before he enrolled and knew that he was a very strong player. So our lessons were very advanced, about improvisation, technique etc. Since his graduation we have worked together in a few settings. We decided to work on this duo quite deliberately. Once we began we knew quickly that we had to record it.

I have enjoyed a lot your book “Perpetual Frontier”, shall we try a game? I ask you the same questions you have asked to the musicians who you interviewed in your book, I’m curious to read your answer: “What were and are your main musical influences?

On guitar, Jimi Hendrix, Django Reinhardt, Charlie Christian, Derek Bailey, Rene Thomas, Blind Lemon Jefferson, John McLaughlin, Baden Powell. More broadly, blues, jazz, West African kora music. African fiddle music, Gnawa music, Gamelan, Tibetan Chant Music, Indian Music, Messiaen, Cage, Elliott Carter, Charles Ives, Ornette Coleman, Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Evan Parker, Braxton, Fred Hopkins, Monk, to name a few.


How do you express your "musical form" both in execution and improvisation, whether you're playing "in solo" or together with other musicians?

For years I composed. My technique emerged partly due to my compositions and also due to serious study of the methodologies of improvised music. gradually I began to understand that I didn’t need composition, that the way I played was the composition. My use of what I call the properties of free music functioned in ways that shaped every aspect of my performances solo, and in groups, by providing me with many points of reference in the process of making the music.

Do you develop a "form" by default making adjustments as necessary or leave the "form" itself to emerge depending on the situation, or exploits both creative approaches?”

Some of my work is organized prior to the performance. But most of it is what I call a resultant form. It is formulated in the process of being made. However I use very specific materials in process to shape the music in a way that varies within each duration of performance.

Berio in his essay "A remembrance to the future," wrote: ".. A pianist who is a specialist about classical and romantic repertoire, and plays Beethoven and Chopin without knowing the music of the twentieth century, is also off as a pianist who is specialist about contemporary music and plays with hands and mind that have never been crossed in depth by Beethoven and Chopin. " You play both traditional classical and contemporary repertoire ... do you recognize yourself in these words?

Although I actually don’t play classical—I am an improviser, I do see myself in these words. I study music all the time searching for an understanding of the design and expression. And I don’t believe that contemporary music should be devoid of the qualities of classical music. However I do believe that those qualities need to be rendered in ways that express our time, our world now. And I believe that rigor in music extend itself to an expression speaks of the deepest and most searching view of existence.


What does improvisation mean for your music research? Do you think it’s possible to talk about improvisation for classical music or we have to turn to other repertories like jazz, contemporary music, etc.?

I use improvisation to make music. I never make “an improvisation” and I think musicians who do are terribly naive. Improvisation enables me to configure music in subtle and complex ways on a spontaneous platform. The work in preparing to make music this way is in the study and understanding of how improvisation can be used to achieve this goal. But the result has to be heard as music and not as mere process.

What’s the role of the “Error” in your musical vision? For “error” I mean an incorrect procedure, an irregularity in the normal operation of a mechanism, a discontinuity on an otherwise uniform surface that can lead to new developments and unexpected surprises .

Great question! In my work, an error occurs when there is an attempt to compose something within the performance, using improvisation that is meant to provide more order than is actually needed. As if someone tries to insert material meant to formally organize the process with identifiable material. That kind of attempt inhibits the process with too much control and so that is what I think would be an error or wrong, in the negative sense.
Otherwise, the configuration of ideas/materials/decisions when encountering a contingency that may not be what is hoped for, or expected, is to me, an opportunity to create a new result.
The one exception to these situations would be when I personally just cannot accurately play what I am attempting to play. In which case I attempt to utilize what I get and carry on either with another try, a variation using what I got, or a shift to something else.

I have, sometimes, the feeling that in our times music’s history flows without a particular interest in its chronological course, in our discotheque before and after, past and future become interchangeable elements, shall this be a risk of a uniform vision for an interpreter and a composer? The risk of a musical "globalization"?

This doesn’t bother me. I am not a linear thinker so I enjoy tracking the ontological framework of everything. As an artist in the world, I am generally in a state of mind that is a combination of contemplation, inspiration, fear and horror. The world is amazing and terrifying to me.  No matter what art and music have done to evolve us and civilize us, humans continue to devolve in new a horrifying ways all the time. So it is necessary for us artists to remain open to what is new no matter where it comes from, and try to be as inclusive as possible. I think this is a very exciting time for the area I work in because it has grown to be Global and new things; techniques, ideas and communities of musicians are popping up all over.


Let’s talk about marketing. How much do you think it’s important for a modern musician? I mean: how much is crucial to be good promoters of themselves and their works in music today?

I am not sure. There are facets of the music business that stagnate rather than generate a future forward sensibility and so old things always do better than new things. Therefore it’s necessary to know your own market and to build it yourself if one that welcomes you doesn’t already exist. The parts of the music scene that support me are mostly grassroots or musician run with some exceptions.

Please tell us five essential records, to have always with you .. the classic five discs for the desert island …

I don’t know if this list is the 5. But it would do
Albert Ayler Spiritual Unity
Alhaji Bai Konte Kora Melodies from the Republic of The Gambia, West Africa
Jimi Hendrix Band of Gypsies
Jimmy Lyons/Sunny Murray Jump up/What to do about
Evan Parker/Barry Guy Obliquities


What are your five favorite scores?
5 that I love. Not sure what are my absolute favorites. All chamber or orchestral

Olivier Messiaen Sept Haiku
Charles Ives Calcium Light Night
Elliott Carter 1st String Quartet
Sofia Gubaidulina Concerto for viola and orchestra
Witold Lutoslawski String Quartet

With who would you like to play? What kind of music do you listen to usually?

The only person I wanted to play with who I haven’t played with yet is Ornette Coleman. He’s very old so I doubt it can happen. The people I enjoy playing with or would like to work with more are Anthony Braxton, Barry, Evan Parker, John Butcher, Peter Evans, Agusti Fernandez, Mat Maneri, Chris Cretella, Yasmine Azaiez, Brad Barrett, Nate Wooley, Ken Vandermark, Alex Ward, Andria Nicodemou, Jim Hobbs, Mat Maneri, Taylor Ho Bynum, Tyshawn Sorey, and a few others.
I drive a lot. Most of my listening for enjoyment is in my car. It’s normal for me to listen to Mozart, Bob Dylan, Brian Ferneyhough, Scodanibbio, Ornette Coleman, Rev Gary Davis, Derek Bailey, some traditional African music and some noise improvisation or any similar mix during a drive.

Your next projects?

New Cd’s II will be releasing a new solo guitar recording this winter, a new electric trio called Mess Hall, duo with the bassist Brad Barrett, trio wth Nate Wooley and Evan Parker, duo with Evan Parker and a 5 piece chamber work called Ultra with feathure Agusti Fernandez on piano.

When we will see you playing in Italy?

Soon I hope.

venerdì 24 ottobre 2014

Invito al Festival Vaihingen da parte del direttore artistico Tommaso Ieva



Il Maestro Tommaso Ieva ha scritto una lettera ai lettori del Blog Chitarra e Dintorni che pubblico molto volentieri

4. Internationale Gitarrentage Vaihingen an der Enz

Carissimi amici del blog, della chitarra e non solo, colgo l’occasione per comunicarvi che fra breve, dal 30 ottobre al 2 novembre 2014, a Vaihingen an der Enz, nella Svevia, vale a dire nel relativamente vicino sudovest germanico ( 50 Minuti di volo da Bergamo) si svolgerà, per la quarta volta consecutiva in soli tre anni, il festival delle innovazioni, della ricerca, della sperimentazione, della riscoperta del repertorio chitarristico, dove sarà  possibile anche ascoltare Jazz,  Fingerstyle, musica antica per Liuto, Arciliuto e chitarrone ….Tutto circondato da una cornice medievale, quella di Vaihingen an der Enz, piccola cittadina incantata situata al centro di selve teutoniche e radure …. Un angolo di Europa dove ho il piacere di dirigere quello che di fatto sembra essere un festival che promette davvero bene.
Ascoltare i concerti nella sala auditorium della Peterskirche, unica nel suo genere, rappresenta un’esperienza unica, dove il suono della chitarra diventa magico, per via di un’acustica più unica che rara…
Masterclass, Workshop, Concerti, hotel, bar, ristoranti immediatamente ubicati nel centro storico in prossimità della sala concertistica, con un programma ben diviso su quattro fantastici giorni a ridosso dell’Halloween tedesco, sono davvero da non perdersi ! La partecipazione attiva costa soltanto 120 Euro ed offre tantissimi opportunità di crescita con docenti di alto livello.
Imperdibile è anche la mostra di liuteria che verrà allestita giorno 2 Novembre!
Vi auguro di non perdervi quest’occasione e festa della chitarra. Ah, dimenticavo, il pernottamento è ancora possibile a 28 Euro con colazione !
Con affetto Vi invito personalmente e spero di vedervi presto!

Tommaso Ieva,
Direttore artistico del Festival Internazionale Gitarrentage Vaihingen an der Enz

giovedì 23 ottobre 2014

Noël Akchoté playlist on Blog Chitarra e Dintorni


Noël Akchoté (born 7 December 1968, Paris)[1] is a French guitarist mainly active in the free improvisation, classical, experimental and free jazz.
Trained from the age of eight, he debuted as a guitarist in 1990.[2] He collaborated with a wide variety of musicians among which Henri Texier, Louis Sclavis, Daniel Humair, Jacques Thollot, Sam Rivers but mostly with Derek Bailey, Eugene Chadbourne, Fred Frith, Evan Parker, Lol Coxhill, Tim Berne and George Lewis. Later in his career he began contributing on albums of David Grubbs, Luc Ferrari, David Sylvian, J. G. Thirlwell (for his band Steroid Maximus), Max Nagl, Andrew Sharpley, Jean-François Pauvros, and the band Earth of Dylan Carlson. Founder of Rectangle (label).

mercoledì 22 ottobre 2014

Guitars Speak: Le chitarre del Nuntempe Ensemble e di Zsofia Boros


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Questa sera alle 21 va in onda Guitars Speak, programma dedicato alla chitarra. Ascolteremo due modi completamente diversi, ugualmente validi di interpretare, vedere e sentire la musica contemporanea. Da un lato i rigorosi Nuntempe Ensemble dal Sudamerica dall'altra la dolcezza dell'ungherese Tsofia Boros.

This evening at 9PM we will trasmit Guitars Speak, a radio program dedicated to the guitar. We will listen to two completely different ways, equally valid to interpret, play and hear contemporary music. On the one hand the rigorous Nuntempe Ensemble from South America to the other, the sweetness of the Hungarian Tsofia Boros.



Zsofia Boros playlist on Blog Chitarra e Dintorni

Zsófia Boros’ guitar playing is subtle and restrained, accompanied by a melancholy grace. As the subtleness of her playing unfolds, the attentive listener perceives its quiet virtuosity. Her restraint arises quite naturally from the knowledge of her own ability to become one with her instrument and, thus, never to let virtuosity dominate the music.
Zsófia Boros’ melancholy is sweet, bitter-sweet; her performance sharpens our concentration and awareness and its vibrations create a tender feeling of happiness.

martedì 21 ottobre 2014

Recensione di Madrigals For Five Voices: Integral (Libro I – Libro VI), Carlo Gesualdo di Noël Akchoté, Drag City, 2014



Che personaggio Gesualdo da Venosa. Compositore, innovatore dell’arte del canto, grande cacciatore, amante delle arti, nobile e assassino. Un personaggio così oggi sarebbe oggetto di cronaca, magari apparirebbe nei talk show e sicuramente Bruno Vespa ne ricaverebbe il plastico del suo castello. Altri tempi, altra società, in cui la vita valeva meno di adesso e in cui le faccende si regolavano a fil di spada. Ma se l’uomo è vile materia la cui carne si corrompe, l’artista e la sua arte continuano a vivere nei nostri giorni, ispirando altri artisti e altre gesta, magari solo musicali. Questa la sua storia di quest’uomo celebre. Celebre non solo per le sue grandi qualità di compositore e innovatore musicale, ma anche per l’omicidio premeditato della moglie e del suo amante. A vent’anni sposò la cugina Maria D`Avalos, più grande di lui, che gli dette un figlio. Totalmente assorbito dalla sua musica e dalla passione per la caccia, tuttavia, trascurò la moglie, che intrecciò un’audace e imprudente relazione amorosa con il duca d’Andria Fabrizio Carafa, a sua volta sposato e padre di quattro figli. Ferito nell’onore, Gesualdo premeditò la vendetta: il 16 ottobre 1590 finse di partire per una battuta di caccia di due giorni, salvo rientrare nella notte e cogliere i due amanti in flagrante adulterio nella stanza da letto della moglie uccidendoli entrambi. Per sfuggire alla vendetta dei Carafa, fuggì da Napoli rifugiandosi nel castello di Gesualdo, dove visse per diciassette anni trasformando la fortezza in una fastosa corte canora che ospitò i musicisti più famosi dell`epoca e grandi personaggi di cultura come Torquato Tasso.
Il chitarrista francese Noël Akchoté, non nuovo a questo tipo di rielaborazioni, decide nel 2011 di reinterpretare per cinque chitarre i suoi sublimi madrigali, apportando una ventata di freschezza e di novità a queste composizioni dal carattere eterno. In questa impresa Akchoté è accompagnato da altro quattro chitarristi: David Grubs, Adam Levy, Doug Wamblew e Julien Desprez. La soluzione adottata da Akchoté è quella di lasciare il più possibili intatte le melodie polifoniche dei madrigali di Gesualdo, senza quindi arrangiare i brani e piuttosto adattando le chitarre del quintetto con accordature aperte in modo da non solo poter rimanere nei range definiti dalle composizioni originarie di ma di sfruttare il più possibile i sustain delle corde suonate a vuoto.
Nel libretto che accompagna il cd, che vede la luce solo ora per la Drag City, nonostante queste musiche siano disponibili in formato mp3 fin dal 2011, Akchoté spiega anche la scelta di suonare il più possibile in prima posizione sullo strumento lasciando fluire le note, adottando anche un suono più caldo.
Il risultato è un cd ammaliante. La sua bellezza è duplice, da un lato la riproposizione in chiave diversa di queste musiche soavi, dall’altro l’estrema finezza e pulizia del tono di queste chitarre elettriche. Un disco semplicemente sublime. Speriamo che anche gli altri lavori di Akchoté basati sulle musiche di Orlande de Lassus, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Guillaume de Machaut e John Cage trovino presto una giusta collocazione discografica.



Review of Madrigals For Five Voices: Integral (Libro I – Libro VI), Carlo Gesualdo by Noël Akchoté, Drag City, 2014


What an incredible story behind a person like Gesualdo da Venosa. Composer, singer, great hunter, arts protector, noble and murderess. His “character” survived to history, today he would be the subject of a Hollywood movie, maybe he would appear on talk shows or reality tv. Other times, an other society, in which life was worth less than now, and where matters were regulated by the blaze of a sword. But if the man is vile matter whose flesh is corrupted, the artist and his art continue to live in our time, inspiring other artists and other events. This is his story of this famous composer. Renowned not only for his great qualities as a composer and musical innovator, but also for the premeditated murder of his wife and her lover. At twenty he married his cousin Maria D`Avalos, four years older than him, who gave him a son. Totally absorbed by his music and his passion for hunting, however, he neglected his wife, who had a reckless love affair with Fabrizio Carafa, Duke of Andria, married and father of four children. Wounded in honor, Gesualdo made his bloody revenge: October 16, 1590 he said he would leave for a two days hunting, except back in the night and catch the two lovers in the act of adultery in his bedroom and killed them both. To escape the revenge of Carafa, he fled from Naples refuge in his castle of Gesualdo, where he lived for seventeen years, transforming the castle into a sumptuous place, a friendly home to the most famous musicians and great personalities like Torquato Tasso. The French guitarist Noël Akchoté not new to this type of rework, decided in 2011 to reinterpret his sublime madrigals for five guitars, bringing a breath of freshness and newness to these compositions from the eternal character. In this enterprise Akchoté is accompanied by four other guitarists: David Grubs, Adam Levy, Doug Wamblew and Julien Desprez. The solution adopted by Akchoté is to leave as much as possible intact the melodies of the polyphonic madrigals by Gesualdo, without arranging the scores rather than adapting the guitar quintet with open tunings not only to stay in the pitch range defined by the original compositions but to permit the guitars to play as possible freeing the sustain of their strings. In the booklet that accompanies the CD, which has been produced now by Drag City label, in spite of these pieces are available in mp3 format since 2011 Akchoté also explains the choice of playing as much as possible in the first position in the instrument leaving notes flowing freely, also adopting a warmer sound. The result is a haunting cd. Its beauty is twofold, on the one hand the revival of this music in a different key suave, on the other the extreme fineness and cleanliness of the tone of these electric guitars. A simply sublime record. I hope that the other works of Akchoté based on the music of Orlande de Lassus, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Guillaume de Machaut and John Cage will soon find some other nice recording labels.