Dana Dentata Pantychrist (2021)

A guided tour through five years of rock in its many variants: power pop, pub rock, glam, krautrock, punk etc – reflecting the fertility of the time. A 44-track double CD with 28-page booklet.

Dana Fuchs is a throwback to another time: the late '60s and early '70s, when blues-based shouters like Janis Joplin and Robert Plant (in a somewhat different style) were capturing the attention of a generation. Her debt to Joplin is unapologetic – she starred in the off-Broadway musical Love, Janis – and at times maybe a bit too slavish. That's not to say that she brings no other elements to her interpretation of blues and soul-rock styles, only that there are moments on Love to Beg when one might be forgiven for wondering why one would listen to Fuchs when Joplin recordings are still so easily available.

What are the origins of the Mexican/Dutch/Russian violist Dana Zemtsov and Ukrainian/Dutch pianist Anna Fedorova? Throughout years of friendship, they discovered many similarities in their upbringing. Both Dana and Anna’s parents met in Moscow’s conservatory. Dana’s parents - Julia Dinerstein and Mikhail Zemtsov - are both renowned violists. Anna’s parents - Tatiana Abayeva and Borys Fedorov - are incredible pianists and famous piano professors.

Today, with the amount of recordings aimed at rediscovering the buried treasures of past centuries, it is difficult to ignore the work of Rebecca Clarke. Viola player Vinciane Béranger, along with Dana Ciocarlie, Hélène Collerette and David Louwerse, have devoted a recording to the Clarke's works for viola. Both a composer and a performer, Clarke was one of the foremost professional women in England. Her music, at the crossroads of various currents, navigates at different moments through French music, modality, British folklore, harmonic boldness and exoticism. There is, however, no pastiche: Clarke creates her own honey from these trends in order to construct a quite atypical language that is resolutely modern. From her masterly Viola Sonata to the poetic Morpheus, and not forgetting the trio Dumka or the duet Chinese Puzzle, the performers are keen to paint the musical portrait of this iconoclastic composer. The recording is enhanced with the world premiere of Irish Melody, a long lost score that was recently rediscovered.