Janis Mattox
Solombra
© 2006 Janis Mattox
CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.
SPECIAL: 10% discount if you buy more than one copy of it today!
Contemporary Classical Songs based on Brazilian Poetry - Cover photo of soprano Katia Escalera in performance by Michael McGuire
tracks
- 1 Apresentação (Presentation)
- 2 Água densa do sonho (Water dense with dreams)
- 3 O Mar (The Sea)
- 4 Olhos vertendo melancolia (Eyes pouring melancholy)
- 5 Fora da Vida (Outside of life)
- 6 Inscrição na areia (Written in the sand)
- 7 Morena, Pena de Amor (Morena, the sorrow of love)
- 8 Desenho (Design)
- 9 Canto de Luna Llena (Song of the full moon)
try this
genres you will love
By Location
links
notes
HINT: To listen in hi-fi, you must click the PURPLE "PLAY ALL SONGS" rather than selecting individual tracks.
"Solombra contains some of the most inspired song writing in contemporary literature." —Terry Riley, composer/pianist
“Beautiful, breathtaking, addictive, unpretentious and translucent – the sprirtual space is vast and seductive.” —Phil Winsor, composer
“Absolutely gorgeous…Katia is stunning. Congratulations!” —Emily Bezar, singer/keyboardist/songwriter
“Sublimely beautiful with subtle, yet profoundly moving passages.” —John Snell, pianist/music technologist
“I never take it out of the CD player...it plays at every available minute...I am transfixed.” —Linda Montano, Art/Life Institute
“A beautiful composition beautifully performed, and an amazing live recording.” —Sandy Cressman, Cressmanmusic
"A stunningly beautiful and powerful work...I was completely blown away!" —Paul Dresher, composer
ABOUT SOLOMBRA:
"Solombra" (SunShadow), composed by Janis Mattox, is a song cycle for soprano Katia Escalera and piano trio (Matthew Edwards-piano, Susan Freier-vioin, Stephen Harrison-cello). Based on Brazilian poetry and sung in Portuguese, "Solombra" is a sorrow-song of lost love as well as a sensual remembrance.
This premiere performance was recorded LIVE at the Sanchez Concert Hall in Pacifica, California in May, 2005.
The last track on the CD, "Canto de Luna Llena" is a collaboration with composer Claudia Gomez, who wrote the Spanish lyrics.
MORE REVIEWS:
"Solombra" is a "Winterreise" for the modern ear - the marriage of modern composition with the timeless voice of grief. The startling musical vocabulary is, somehow, so contemporary and yet so natural that it seems to close a circle leading back to Schubert’s song cycle.
—Paul Trachtman, Smithsonian Magazine writer
"In an extraordinary capture of the ethereal, Mattox has written a piece of music so of earth and yet not, that there is little for the audience to do but to flow and ebb in the mastery of its sea. It required each musician to be a master technician, formidable in skill yet completely sensitive to an ensemble of grace." —Jean Bartlett, Pacifica Tribune
"Everything came together at a new level with this concert, and it was a powerful, tangible thing to behold. You would have to be made of stone not to feel the magic." —Stephen Hill, Producer, Hearts of Space
"It is difficult to finds words that can adequately describe the beauty of this music, beauty that does not move to the excesses of romanticism. Rather, it is music that is completely accessible within a broader scope of musical expressivity. One audience member mentioned Villa Lobos as a comparison. I disagree. The music probably stands alone at this point in time." —Milton Williams, baritone/composer
"The music provided the ocean, the sand, the rocking of the boat, the wind in the sail, the sun, the heat in the air and the cool of the night. You have found the essence of those beautiful poems and wrote a music so in connection with them...as if, like a sweet guardian angel, through cello and violin, you were whispering in my ear the deep meaning of the words. Katia Escalera has a beautiful, deep and rich voice, she sings with great art, but above all, her greatness lies in the fact that her interpretation is unaffected, sincere, sober, true. She puts herself at the service of the music, just as you have put yourself at the service of the poet." —Hélène Dallaire, soprano
"Meticulously crafted - which I think in no small way contributes to the magnetism of the piece. It was as if the players were held together in a force field that never weakened. The trance was never broken. Your pianist really impressed me with his sensitivity to the strings and soloist, he played with such fluidity. All the performers were amazing - ensemble playing at its best!" —Marcia Bauman, composer/pianist
"I am still haunted (in a good way!) by Solombra. It was exquisitely ethereal and transporting to other dimensions of reality - dimensions that usually seem to have a thick fog hiding their beauty. The music certainly cleared the fog and revealed some of the feelings of a sacred mystery. Bravo!" —Bonney Grey, dancer/healer
ABOUT THE PERFORMERS:
KATIA ESCALERA, LYRIC SOPRANO "has it all: voice, projection, diction, looks, presence." A native of Cochabamba, Bolivia, Katia has sung internationally and was recently awarded Outstanding and Excellent Bolivian Professional. Katia and the Baroque ensemble Florilegium recently recorded the newly discovered Bolivian Baroque Music of the Jesuit Missions in the Bolivian Amazon with Channel Classics.
MATTHEW EDWARDS, PIANO: Admired by audiences for his probing interpretations of standard and contemporary repertoire, Mathew Edwards has enjoyed a growing reputation as solo recitalist and chamber musician. Edwards is featured with violinist Kees Hülsmann in a recent release of the music of Peter Scott Lewis (Atlantic Crossing, Lapis Island). He has premiered new works for piano by Frank La Roca, Jose Halac, Vivian Fung and Julian White, whose solo piano works he released on CD in 2003. Mr. Edwards is pianist for the San Francisco Symphony Chorus.
STEPHEN HARRISON, CELLO: A founding member of the Ives String Quartet and a member of the Stanford University faculty since 1983, Harrison is a graduate of Oberlin College and Boston University where he received the Award for Distinction in Graduate Performance. Former principal cellist of the Opera Company of Boston, the New England Chamber Orchestra and the Chamber Symphony of San Francisco, he has performed on NPR, the BBC and on both the German and the Netherlands State Radio. As solo cellist of the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players he has toured internationally.
SUSAN FREIER, VIOLIN: While at the Eastman School of Music, Ms. Freier co-founded the Chester String Quartet, which won the Cleveland Quartet Competition, as well as the Evian, Munich International, Portsmouth (England) and Chicago Discovery competitions. In 1989, Susan returned to her native Bay Area to join the Stanford University faculty and the Stanford String Quartet. A founding member of the Ives String Quartet, Freier's recordings are available on the Newport Classics, Stolat, Pantheon, Music and Arts, Laurel, and CRI labels.
ABOUT THE COMPOSER:
Janis Mattox, composer, began creating multi-media works merging live performance, dance, film, and interactive digital music technologies at Stanford University’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics in the early 80’s. Her music-drama "Shaman" (1984) became the subject of a feature article in Smithsonian Magazine by Alan Rich. She was co-producer with Loren Rush and Elliot Mazer of "The Digital Domain" (1984-Elektra), a best selling classical CD which became an audio standard in the industry. Her awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship, four NEA fellowships and several grants from the Ross McKee Foundation for her "Music for Kids by Kids" music education project. She is co-developer with Loren Rush of The Enhanced Piano in Just Intonation and GoodSound Virtual Acoustics, music technologies featured on "Solombra".
reviews
Please log in to review this album.
- author: chiefbattalion/12
haunting but very passionate. the composition and musicians evoke sadness,passion,joy,life and it's cycles. kudos to hearts of space and thank you janis for bringing this to production, it is a great piece and the portuguese language is so so passionate. cd baby you are the best no one ever heard of this piece but you did thanks
Excellent
author: Clark DFirst heard this composition on Hearts of Space, while driving. Although I only heard the first four songs, it was more than enough to convince me to track it down. Immediately did so at my next access to a computer. Best music purchase this semester!
Hauntingly beautiful
author: MJPowerful, emotionally balanced between sun and shadow. Highly recommended.
- author: rkoprowski
I could listen to this cd forever & ever & I would probably wear it out or fry my laser richard
Hypnotic
author: L. VarallyayI can't get all the songs to play. I would like to play more. I would like to purchase it but haven't found the time to call.
Thank You CD Baby, for having the CD when very few, or no-one else, did!!!!!
author: Bruce SmithThis CD is simply one of the Best, for dining and mellowing out with high quality sound.
A splendid, atmospheric journey into the music of the spheres.
author: Derrick ThompsonI don't speak or understand Portugeese, but I can listen to the heavenly voice on Solombra anytime. Kudos to Hearts Of Space; for I may have never heard it without their radio tranmission.
Transcendent and reflective...
author: Manny FuentesI first heard this on "Hearts of Space" and loved it immediately. The composition is sparse but complex and the singing is richly nuanced. Great performances by all the musicians. Nice to listen to music that lets the listener breathe and be.
Stunning!
author: Barbara CaseAll of the other reviews about this cd are absolutely correct! Gorgeous compositions, beautifully performed.