Sumiglia

Amazon.com
By merit of its geographic locale, Athens is still a crossroads even if its cultural significance is, for the most part, long past. Thus it should come as no surprise that Greek singer Savina Yannatou would take an interest in different folk music styles. Here on her second ECM album, the traditional music of her homeland, Corsica, Eastern Europe, Palestine, and other places is presented with an almost classical music's sense of drama, purpose and precision. Yet Yannatou, who did study Baroque and Renaissance performance, takes her richly expressive voice and voyages through open-ended interpretations of the folk musics created by the versatile Primavera En Salonic, which uses both Western and Eastern traditional instruments. She sings in the appropriate language to the accompaniment, but the lyrical translations are telling – thematically speaking, she’s drawn to material sung by women, literally creating her own version of sisterhood that is equally arresting to the music. Wholly modern and urbane, yet traditional and folksy, Yannatou has found a rare and special balance. -- Tad Hendrickson

J. Poet, Global Rhythm Magazine, May 2005
...a pure timeless cry beyond words. Sumiglia may be Yannatou's most emotionally powerful recording.

Sumiglia

Tracks:

Evga Mana Moui
Muineira
Yanno Yannovitse
Porondos Viz Partjan
Sedi Yanna
Orrio Tto Fengo
Ta Chervona Ta Kalinonka
Terra Ca Nun Senti
Sumiglia
Sta Kala Lu Serenu
Ganchum Em Yar Ari
Tulbah
Smarte Moj
Ela Ipne Ke Pare To

Amazon.com

By merit of its geographic locale, Athens is still a crossroads even if its cultural significance is, for the most part, long past. Thus it should come as no surprise that Greek singer Savina Yannatou would take an interest in different folk music styles. Here on her second ECM album, the traditional music of her homeland, Corsica, Eastern Europe, Palestine, and other places is presented with an almost classical music's sense of drama, purpose and precision. Yet Yannatou, who did study Baroque and Renaissance performance, takes her richly expressive voice and voyages through open-ended interpretations of the folk musics created by the versatile Primavera En Salonic, which uses both Western and Eastern traditional instruments. She sings in the appropriate language to the accompaniment, but the lyrical translations are telling - thematically speaking, she's drawn to material sung by women, literally creating her own version of sisterhood that is equally arresting to the music. Wholly modern and urbane, yet traditional and folksy, Yannatou has found a rare and special balance. -- Tad Hendrickson

Customer Reviews:

Magnificent Music from Mysterious Countries.......2005-07-24

Savina Yannatou shows great diversity and style in this beautiful album. Her sweet, ethereal, voice provides magnificent renditions of music from Greece, Italy, Armenia, Albania, the Ukraine, Moldavia, Bulgaria, Sicily, Corisica, and Palestine. Primavera en Salonica add interpretive music on the oud, accordion, darbuk, and many traditional instruments. Savina's voice and versatility are amazing. The band provides authentic and creative musical accompaniment making the sounds original but based on traditional sounds.

I was most impressed with the Slavic intonations of "Yanno Yannovitse". The Balkan instrumentation and musical rhythms are unmistakable and wonderfully authentic. "Porondos Viz Partjan" from Moldavia is a bittersweet song with mysterious haunting music and undertones. It is sung in Hungarian as Moldavia was part of Transylvania which consists of a mostly Hungarian community, Savina does a fine job of pronouncing the words and does a beautiful inflection of style. "Sedi Yanna" is a highly energetic piece filled with the excitement and anticipation that a young bethrothed bride-to-be feels. The joy and exuberance are contagious. "Sumigilia" and "Orrioffo Fengo" are southern Italian songs with a peasant-like idiom which have emotional and energetic vocalizations that are extraordinairily Italian and highly expressive. There is one Ukrainian traditional song that has haunting tones seeming to express the fears of a young woman in love for the soldier whom she loves. Savina's voice is amazing. The band creates astonishing music. The songs are mysterious and enchanting. Anyone who loves traditional music from any of the countries mentioned will enjoy this CD and want to add it to their collection.
Erika Borsos (erikab93)

This is world music album ¹1for this year.......2005-04-05

This album sounds like Rough guide to the world music(there isn't this one).The album is variegated - Savina sings in a different languages, the instruments are accordion, oud guitars and many more, the songs are from different points of the world.Eüöåëëåíò voice, beautiful music.Recommended!

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