Ksenija Sidorova CARMEN

 

CARMEN

 

Fatma Said EL NOUR

EL NOUR

 

Avi Avital / Omer Avital AVITAL MEETS AVITAL

Two superb musicians of international stature – classically trained mandolin player Avi Avital and jazz bassist Omer Avital – have combined their creative energy and set out in search of their cultural roots. Classical music meets jazz, tradition meets modernism, East meets West. Now Avital Meets Avital presents the fascinating results of what is surely one of the most unusual gatherings in classical music.

Early in their careers Avi Avital and Omer Avital already took their musical bearings on the North African traditions of their families and absorbed influences from the multi-cultural melting pot of Israeli society, indulging their fondness for western music. Today the Israeli mandolin player Avi Avital is one of the most accomplished and best-known masters of his instrument. At his concerts with leading orchestras and musicians he is celebrated by fans and media all over the world for his thrilling renditions of klezmer tunes, baroque compositions and his great love, contemporary art music. In 2010 he became the world’s first mandolinist ever to be nominated for the coveted Grammy^® Award. His namesake and decades-long friend, the New York-based composer and bass player Omer Avital, stands in high repute as one of the most adventurous and visionary minds in contemporary jazz. Put them together, and two completely antithetical worlds of music overlap.

“The basic idea behind this album was the collaboration of two artists, one who focuses mainly on classical music while the other is primarily at home in jazz.” Thus Avi Avital describes Avital Meets Avital, a work full of exciting opposites and contradictions that Avi and Omer blend into a spellbinding unity. Avital Meets Avital is pure unadulterated exoticism: oriental melodies clash with North African rhythms, swinging jazz improvisations with classical mandolin playing. It’s a musical journey reaching far back to their roots, preserving the legacy of their shared culture while giving it a wholly new and modern guise.

As a result, Avital Meets Avital covers a musical spectrum as varied and exciting as the culture of Israeli itself. Lively dance-floor tunes bursting with joie de vivre alternate with slow, melancholy ballads; classically sculpted motifs merge with free improvisation, western jazz harmony, standard compositional technique, Moroccan beats, cantabile melodies and lilting rhythms. (Deutsche Grammophon)

Ksenija Sidorova CARMEN

Countless artists, authors and other sharp creative minds – from Manet and Peter Brook to Nabokov and Nietzsche – have drawn deep inspiration from Carmen. Ksenija Sidorova is the latest to reimagine the tragic heroine of Bizet’s opera. The Latvian accordionist, a massive musical talent with the blazing energy of a comet, marks her Deutsche Grammophon debut with an album driven by her identification with Bizet’s famously free-spirited femme fatale. Ksenija’s Carmen gives new life to some of the most popular of all classical melodies, presented here in seductively fresh arrangements. She describes the character of Carmen as, above all, “a projection of the heart’s most intimate desires”. In response, her album, influenced by Latin, Asian, European and North American musical styles, offers an intoxicating mix of tone colours and pulsating rhythms.

Ksenija’s Carmen, set for international release on 3 June 2016, presents an authentic reflection of the Riga-born artist’s charismatic personality. “Carmen fascinates me,” she notes. “Of course I wanted to bring something new to this music, to let Carmen speak with a different voice. The accordion doesn’t have to breathe like a singer, so there are no restrictions to what I can do with this music. I could be daring and passionate, just like Carmen, and share in the multicultural musical ideas created by my wonderful collaborators.” There’s much more Carmen to come from Ksenija thanks to a run of performances that opens in Dortmund in April and continues in Latvia and Chicago later in the year. “I feel that people of all ages are ready to connect with Carmen and so I want to take this project on the road.”

Her desire to connect with others clearly runs deep. She has already been crowned the “Princess of Accordion” by one critic and praised by another for her “ability to steal a musical heart”. Accordion aficionados, meanwhile, have hailed her interpretations of everything from original compositions by Piazzolla, Berio and Nordheim to arrangements of pieces by Bach, Mozart and Scarlatti. “I love performing modern works and new commissions,” she says. “But I feel it is my mission now to introduce the accordion to a large audience. My heart enjoys playing many different styles of music and I want to share this experience with as many people as possible.”

On 30 March 2016, Deutsche Grammophon announced Ksenija Sidorova’s exclusive signing to the yellow label. “We are delighted to welcome such a remarkable talent to our roster,” commented Ute Fesquet, DG’s Vice President, Artists & Repertoire. “Ksenija puts heart and soul into every performance. In her hands the accordion becomes more than an instrument – it is her voice and gives expression to her captivating personality. She is one of those genuinely rare performers who can transcend genre boundaries and beguile audiences with the intense beauty and vitality of her music-making.” (Deutsche Grammophon)