“Panagia” is Stephan Micus’ 20th album for ECM, and it coincides with his 60th birthday in January 2013. The Greek word Panagia is one of the names of the Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ. Stephan Micus’ album takes six Byzantine Greek prayers and sets them in his own inimitable way with instruments he has collected in years of travels round the world. “The album alternates sung poems with instrumental tracks and thus has a clearly symmetrical, even ritualistic, structure”, says Micus.
Stephan Moccio, acclaimed composer/producer (Miley Cyrus, Celine Dion, The Weeknd), returns to his classical roots and the piano. Classical discipline combined with his pop songwriting sensitivities gives him a unique edge. Organic, raw and honest, the album explores profound themes like love, relationships, aging. Conveying emotion without words, he creates melodies that course through delicately wrought compositions, revealing a more sensual and vulnerable side of this multi-faceted artist.
This important recording presents all of Hugo Wolf’s settings of the poetry of Eichendorff—26 songs in all, several of which seem never to have been recorded before (a fact which is hard to understand because they are very attractive). One of Wolf’s favourite writers, Joseph, Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788–1857) was the German Romantic poet par excellence and his poems are full of the sounds of nature, the beauty of landscape, religious faith, and much musical imagery, with references to minstrels and other musicians. He was the poet of Schumann’s Op 39 Liederkreis, though perhaps the most well-known Eichendorff setting is Im Abendrot from Strauss’s Four Last Songs.
7 years have passed since the release of my “Guitar Heroes” Album (with Tommy Emmanuel, Biréli Lagrène and Stochelo Rosenberg as guests). I always wanted to bring the concept of mixing gypsy swing classics and original compositions with titles from other musical genres (pop, latin, western swing, etc.) to stage. I have managed to record 4 concerts over the past few years, of which the long-awaited LIVE CD with a selection of the different performances is finally available. In addition to my trio, Biréli Lagrène and Stochelo Rosenberg are on board again. Richard Smith and Olli Soikkeli could be won as additional guests.
'Snow' is the title Stephan Micus has given to his 18th album for ECM. It is the outcome of continuous work he has carried out on journeys and in the studio since the release of his 'On the Wing' in early spring 2006. 'To me, snow is one of the most beautiful of all natural phenomena', explains Micus, who has been living in Spain for many years. 'It’s closely associated with lasting impressions of my original home in Bavaria, especially the long moonlit walks I used to take when I lived in the Alpine foothills. I've always regarded snow as the essence of magic, even more so today now that there's so little of it and the glaciers are disappearing.' Micus's music has always drawn on impressions of nature and the countryside.
Being a perpetual student, Stephan Micus usually makes world music by default. He breathes patience and skill into the exotic instruments he uncovers, but certainly with respectful bending of the rules along the way. Towards the Wind follows in the same exploratory tradition – educated, but unassuming as to the nature of what an instrument is "supposed to do." Here, the album evokes an easily digestible cross section of Middle Eastern mysticism – swirling sand dunes, rust-colored sunsets, and sacred spaces.
"Josquin was the most emblematic composer of his time, famous throughout Europe for his compositions both secular and sacred. This recording explores those two aspects of his output, which are more closely related than one might think. Here in a small line-up, Gli Angeli Genève deliver a virtuoso vocal performance that is sensitive and empathetic. With only two voices per part, they play on the timbre and individuality of each voice, and thus create an intimacy and a meditative mood that invite the listener to share with the singers in the deeply moving humanity of Josquin’s music."