Bekar Hatem

Natural Velvet is Corynne Ostermann (bass, vocals), Greg Hatem (drums), Spike Arreaga (guitar) and Kim Te (guitar). The post-punk quartet is known in their native Baltimore for a distinct sound that is both aggressive and catchy. Framed by washing guitars, vocals that alternately howl and harmonize, and throbbing drum sounds, Natural Velvet creates music that moves between gazey indie pop and guttural, “wall of sound” noise rock. Aggressive bass lines throughout tie together a dark and foreboding framework, ultimately leaving the listener with haunting melody and hypnotic rhythm. At times confrontational, at times seductive, Ostermann’s vocals guide the listener through dark rolling narratives of identity, existence, rage, and femininity.

The Cervantes Trio took its name from one of the most relevant artists of Cuban culture, the composer and pianist Ignacio Cervantes (1847 - 1905). With an extensive repertoire in both quantity of works and variety of styles, the trio emphasises the creations of contemporary iberoamerican musicians without distancing themselves from concert version pieces from the songbook of Cuban folksongs and dance music, thus demonstrating an integrated artistic range worthy of note. Their journey to the present includes performances in the Granada International Festival of Music and Dance and the Segovia Summer Festival, among others.

While soprano Fatma Said’s previous Warner Classics releases crossed cultures and musical genres, this album focuses entirely on German-language songs of the Romantic era: lieder by Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann and Brahms.At the age of 18, Fatma left her native Cairo to study at the Hanns Eisler Conservatory in Berlin and “Ever since then, the joy of singing this genre has been central to my musical life … I am very passionate about lieder … This wonderful combination of great German poetry and genius composers like Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, and Brahms.”