Canto Speber

An homage to the Baroque singer and composer Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677), this album is titled La voce sola. That final word, 'single', 'only' or 'alone', points to the fact that most of Strozzi's works are written for solo voice, usually her own, a fact that makes her music especially intimate and personal. It emphasizes the uniqueness of her musical language and her distinctive voice as a composer but also refers to the difficulties of her striving alone in her personal and creative endeavors. This recital is a career survey of this great composer, from her first collections to her last opus, in chronological order, including a world-premiere recording of a work with no opus number.

This unique 12CD set brings together nine (!) arrangements of Simeon Ten Holt's Canto Ostinato, the best-loved and most famous Dutch piano composition of the 20th century. Jeroen van Veen and friends present the work in a variety of arrangements, ranging from piano solo through multiple pianos, organ, marimbas and synthesizers, revealing many varied aspects of this deceptively simple work. Liner notes on the composer by the artist, who worked in close collaboration till the composer's 2012 death.

Simeon ten Holt - Canto Ostinato for Solo Harp - Assia Cunego (2009) {Etcetera KTC 1398}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 230 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 173 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 24 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2009 Etcetera Records | KTC 1398
Classical / Modern Classical / 20th Century / Harp

Simeon ten Holt worked out this composition over several years. The harp brings forth a more transparent, more diffuse timbre than the piano, a singing tone-space. Simeon ten Holt (1923-2012), one of the Netherlands' preeminent minimalists, is best known for Canto Ostinato, for one or more keyboards. The piece is modular, with 106 sections, each of which can be repeated an infinite number of times, left to the performers' discretion. The composer estimates that the minimum length of time required for the piece to make the appropriate impact is about 30 minutes. The score is arranged so that there is enough material for at least four players, and in its most popular configuration, it's played by four pianos. When a single player tackles it, though, he/she is given the choice of playing any of the lines, so there is room for considerable variation between performances in which material gets highlighted. In this recording, Assia Cunego plays the work on solo harp.

Italy's foremost female rock singer, Gianna Nannini, was born in Siena on June 14, 1956, to a family that included a renowned industrialist and Siena Football Club president father and a Formula One pilot brother. Often described as the creative rebel in the family, Nannini attended the Lucca Conservatory throughout her entire adolescence, where she was trained as a pianist. At age 19, she decided to become a professional musician, and left her home for Milan, where she began to perform in local bars and small venues…