Medea

Medea is a solo project and brainchild of composer and multi-musician Henry Meeuws. It’s no secret that Henry likes to be inspired by bands as for instance Pain of Salvation, Dream theater, Savatage, Avantasia and Ayreon. All the characteristic rock opera’s of Medea tell an intense story, performed by great Dutch guest vocalists and musicians. After almost twelve years, the moment is finally there! On the 1st of September 2017, “NORTHERN LIGHT, the brand-new and long expected solo album of Henry Meeuws alias MEDEA, was released. After "Individual Unique” (2002) and “Room XVII (2005) this is the third rock opera of this multi faceted musician and composer from Someren (the Netherlands), who signed a record deal with Rock Inc. Entertainment / Snakebite Records for the production of this album.

Medea is the solo project of excellent guitarist/keyboardist Henry Meeuws (Casual Silence). The music is very much close to another famous band from land of tulips Ayreon, but with their own twist and with a lot of great ideas. The debut is released in 2002 named "Individual Unique" and has an very intresting concept - is about a young ambitious artist in 18th Century from Florence who is visited by the spirit of Michelangelo. Lots of cast of characters, female/male singers, musicians and all perform and give life to the story.
Their second release, "Room XVII" (2005), is a concept album about dutch history, voyage of the Batavia and the lands conquered by tdutch in 17 century…

Jacob Kirkman was a member of one of the most important harpsichord builder dynasties of his time. Even Charles Burney (music historian, composer & musician) was full of praise of him. Kirkman‘s family was also able to master the transition to the Fortepiano with a series of innovations. Medea Bindewald partly performs on keyboards built by the Kirkman company, with compositions by Jacob Kirkman.

A Fate Symphony is already the 4th rock opera made by Medea. Medea is a solo project and the brainchild of composer and multi-musician Henry Meeuws. If you liked his previous albums and you enjoy the music of Ayreon then this album will again be a treat for your precious ears. A Fate Symphony contains ten new songs and the album clocks just over an hour playing time. As usual Meeuws plays the guitars and the keyboards and he "hires" a couple of singers for the vocal parts. On this album you can hear the voices of Bart Schwartmann, Bas Dolmans, Jo de Boeck and Joss Mennen; the latter mentioned is of course known from his work with the rock band Mennen. A Fate Symphony is a concept album, again, and the music can best be described as melodic prog with symphonic musical characteristics and influences from bands like Ayreon and Dream Theater.

Eileen Farrell was an American soprano who had a nearly 60-year-long career performing both classical and popular music in concerts, theatres, on radio and television, and on disc. NPR noted, "She possessed one of the largest and most radiant operatic voices of the 20th century." While she was active as an opera singer, her concert engagements far outnumbered her theatrical appearances. Her career was mainly based in the United States, although she did perform internationally.

Giovanni Mayr is known today primarily as the teacher of Donizetti, but in the very late 1700s and first two decades of the 1800s, this German-born, Italian-by-adoption composer was all the operatic rage, combining the fiorature and niceties of Italian vocal writing with a German penchant for orchestration (Medea’s opening aria has a violin obbligato of the type that you simply do not find with the Italians, for instance). Medea in Corinto is considered Mayr’s masterpiece; in fact, it’s a long score, not quite as poweful as Cherubini’s, but with plenty of flavor of its own.