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“Zonacalda"
is the literal Italian translation for the expression “hot zone"
used in medicine to designate a deadly infective area. Composed and
recorded for the Italian radio in 1995, this work portrays the inner
journey of a man infected by AIDS. In the three “Recitativo"
pieces, the actress Federica Santoro reads a narrative in Italian: the
character expresses his physical and mental distress, over a soundscape
of keyboards and electronics (Pierluigi Castellano and Luca Venitucci),
trumpet (Paolo Fresu), violin (Diego Conti) and drums (Fabrizio Spera of
Ossatura). These sections alternate with three art songs set to poems by
Keats, Goethe and Lucrezio. Interpreted by the baritone Roberto
Abbondanza, they complement and contrast the freeform music of the
recitatives, as they are tightly composed, highly tonal and lyrical. The
work as a whole is strongly reminiscent of some of the Greek composer
Petros Theodorou's works (mainly Phoenisses and Ars Moriendi); it
strongly relies on keyboards for its atmosphere and is articulated
around the spoken voice/sung voice dichotomy — which means that it
leaves little room for musical expression per se: Conti, Fresu and
Spera's contributions are buried in the textures. The CD is rounded up
with three free improvisations between Castellano on synthesizers and
sampler and Alvin Curran on piano and shofar (a Hebraic horn). The
actress joins in for “Appendix II." These improvisations are much
more abstract, dynamic and, truth be told, exciting. |
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