Giovanni Sollima
Works

THE REVIEW

“..the cello is one of the few instruments that occupy almost eighty percent of your body and put it in tension..” *
And the “bodily” tension of its sound is the first thing you perceive as soon as “Works” starts spinning in the player.
In the poker (“Terra aria” - “Terra acqua” - “Terra danza” - “Terra fuoco”) of tracks that make up the suite opening this collection, tensions vibrate that impel the listener, stretching out on the fabric set up by the strings of an acoustic guitar, only to return and assail it with a whirlwind vortex in the drumming of a suddenly disappearing drum set. Making way for the fresh accountancy of the theme, brought to its insistent exasperation that calms down to lead us to where the "earth dances". And dissolves into the echo that evokes the fire, in an electronic treatment of percussion operated on the instrument.

Born in '62 in Palermo, a son of art, Giovanni Sollima is a composer and cellist whose performance career began very early in the classical field, leading him to collaborate, among others, with names of the caliber of Giuseppe Sinopoli, Martha Argerich, Jorg Demus. However, his undeniable qualities as an interpreter do not confine him to the exclusive role of a performer. His activity as a composer, even when judged only by what we can hear on the disc in question, seems driven by the idea of opening all doors to allow the entry of different attitudes and stimuli, of more sound materials, into the music rooms. Assisted by an ensemble that includes members from Bang on a Can and the Steve Reich Ensemble, he performs his scores, which thrive on a personal mixture of elements of classicism, rock, traits of minimalism, and Mediterranean sounds, also expressed by the use of instruments from that area.
The album, released in 2005, collects and documents the aspects of a multifaceted activity, in the premises and in the commissions as well as in the results.
So that in “Zobeide” one breathes the air of a Norman Mediterranean, hypnotic and reiterated in the rebounds of the strings. And right after, one enters the “Prophecy of Dante,” part of a work with a more classic profile, but crossed by flashes of modern “minimalist” restlessness, created for the Festival "Il violino e la selce," on a text by George Gordon Byron.

Electronics is another element, present but never intrusive, as in “Hell I”.
And all the tracks are absolutely “enjoyable”, far from other sometimes very appreciable drifts that the research applied to such sound materials leads to.
While representing a cross-section, inevitably partial, particularly concerning works intended for theater, I believe that “Works” is an excellent opportunity to get closer to a composer who, to date, has collected performances of his works entrusted to Riccardo Muti, Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, or interpreted by soloists such as Bruno Canino, Yo-Yo Ma, Mario Brunello. Who has created choreographies for Carolyn Carlson, also collaborating, in seemingly irreconcilable fields, with DJ Scanner.
At least that's what it was worth for me, this album. I just have to, based on these 12 fragments, start a research in the discography of an author who, until a few days ago, was absolutely unknown to me.

A research that, judging by this “preview”, should reserve interesting surprises.
To allow the kind reader to understand what multifaceted nature traverses the album, I include some extracts from each track. I hope that for someone the listening will turn into the same pleasant discovery that it was for me.
Also hoping that those who know Sollima’s work will be so kind as to provide me with some indication in this regard.
Meanwhile, I let “Notte,” the long concluding track of “Works,” descend, surprisingly luminous, into the room.



* from the interview you find in More info