Petrina
In Doma

THE REVIEW

Debora Petrina is an Italian singer, keyboardist, and composer.

Curriculum

1999 - collaborates with the Orchestra of Padua and the Veneto.

2003 - records an album in the USA with unreleased pieces by the composer Morton Feldman, titled "Early and Unknown Piano Pieces."

2004 - takes part in the discographic project "A Call for Silence," curated by Nicolas Collins, for the Sonic Arts Network (UK).

2007 - wins the Ciampi Prize and plays at "Café du Nord," a club in San Francisco, along with Amy X Neuburg and Emily Bezar. She then performs at "Mills College" in Oakland, presenting world premieres of contemporary music, along with her own compositions. She is invited to Havana by the Instituto Cubano de la Música and performs at the Teatro Roldán a program of Cuban compositions reinvented and rearranged by herself. On this occasion, a program is dedicated to her by the historic Radio Progreso. She performs Morton Feldman's world premieres at the Conway Hall in London.

2008 - is invited by Elliott Sharp to "The Stone," a historic venue of John Zorn in New York, where she performs in a duo with drummer Mike Sarin.

2009 - releases her debut album in Italy, "In doma," distributed by Egea and featuring guests like Elliott Sharp, Emir Bijukic, Amy Kohn, and Ascanio Celestini. The album is included in the playlist of David Byrne's web radio and also receives the Indie-Pop Revelation Award at "MEI" 2009 (festival of independent labels).

Is this enough to make Petrina a worshipped star? Unfortunately not. She is semi-unknown here in Italy. (well... what a surprise...). Anyway, I'm amazed that no one has yet talked about her here on DeBaser. Let's fill in this gap.

A crystalline talent expressed with originality and extravagance, experimenting with the impossible. Petrina eludes any type of classification, the comparisons I will make should be taken with a grain of salt, they are only expositional to give you an idea of what to expect when listening to this beautiful "In doma":

Playful and irresistible Italo-French pop ("A Ce Soir"), alternative jazz ("She shoe", sung in English); dreamy ballads that showcase her keyboard skills ("Fuori stagione", "Notte Usata" and "Ghost Track"); adorable burlesque nursery rhymes ("Asteroide 482", sung in Spanish and "SMS" with a chorus even in Croatian) and almost pianobar-like performances with constant tempo changes ("Pool Story", sung in English and "Sound Like").

The vocal performance certainly recalls Tori Amos, Bjork, and Kate Bush, but also our own L'Aura and Beatrice Antolini.

Petrina: an amazing and unexpected polyglot of music.

Love her.