<< Alias: Amor, therefore, is more than a cd: it is a unique and multiple experience, fertile and profound, of a vibrant intensity, something so necessary in the contemporary music scene.>> (review by Nadir Garofalo, July 26, 2020 – TGmusic.it)
<<we appreciate the coherence of the whole cd and the way in which Elvira Muratore plays with the immense harmonic and sonic possibilities of the viola d’amore to create a language with minimalist, expressive, poetic and sensitive colors.>> (review by Marie Humbert, August 7, 2020 – COMPOSEHER)
<<at the end, the listener is sure to have heard an enriching CD.>> (review by Remy Franck, August 31, 2020 – PIZZICATO)
A unique contemporary music project designed around what it’s considered one of the most fascinating Baroque instruments: the viola d’amore. It is the notes by composer Elvira Muratore, conveyed to the hands of Valerio Losito, tailored to suit the warm sound of the 1775 Ferdinando Gagliano’s viola d’amore, property of the Elsa Peretti Foundation.
Alias is what we choose to keep untold to protect it from misunderstanding and strumentalization, even when it’s presence is obvious and irrefutable. Alias is exploration and versatility; a collaboration in pursuit of the ultimate beauty; it is a recital, a theatrical piece, a series of concerts for solo viola and ensemble, with an unlimited amount of possibilities.
But that which must be kept untold, has already been suggested within the name of the starring instrument. It will be displayed in 5 chapters, and 5 different nuances of love. Alias is a bridge that connects the earthly with the divine, and the past with our present, or rather, Contemporary!
All the ALIAS of the project:
- Chapter I – Narcissus (available for: solo viola d’amore; viola d’amore, clarinet and string orchestra)
- Chapter II – Haiku (available for: solo viola d’amore)
- Chapter III – Sacred love (available for: solo viola d’amore; viola d’amore and mixed choir)
- Chapter IV – Beyond the death (available for: solo viola d’amore)
- Chapter V – Vivamus… (available for: solo viola d’amore; viola d’amore and mezzosoprano)
All the fragments that inspired our ALIAS’ chapters:
Chapter I – Narcisssus – from “Ovide Moralisé”, XIV secolo
Ensi com Narcisus bevoit
En la fontaine, il vit l’ymage
De son cors et de son visage.
A ce regart l’a amours pris
Et d’estrange rage sourpris.
Estrauge rage est ce, de voir!
Amours li fet apercevoir
Sa poissance trop durement:
Son ombre aime et croit voirement
Que ce soit cors qu’il a veü.
Trop l’a foie amours deceü,
Qui son ombre li fet amer.
Chapter II – Haiku – traditional haiku by poet Basho
Will it come back this year?
The snow that together
we had admired …
Chapter III – Sacred love – from “Luke’s Gospel” 6, 20-23
Μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοί, ὅτι ὑμετέρα ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ. μακάριοι οἱ πεινῶντες νῦν, ὅτι χορτασθήσεσθε. μακάριοι οἱ κλαίοντες νῦν, ὅτι γελάσετε. Μακάριοί ἐστε ὅταν μισήσωσιν ὑμᾶς οἱ ἄνθρωποι, καὶ ὅταν ἀφορίσωσιν ὑμᾶς καὶ ὀνειδίσωσιν καὶ ἐκβάλωσιν τὸ ὄνομα ὑμῶν ὡς πονηρὸν ἕνεκα τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου· χάρητε ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ καὶ σκιρτήσατε, ἰδοὺ γὰρ ὁ μισθὸς ὑμῶν πολὺς ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ· κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ γὰρ ἐποίουν τοῖς προφήταις οἱ πατέρες αὐτῶν.
Chapter IV – Beyond the death – from “The Colloquy of Monos and Una” by E. A. Poe
The day waned; and, as its light faded away, I became possessed by a vague uneasiness — an anxiety such as the sleeper feels when sad real sounds fall continuously within his ear — low distant bell-tones, solemn, at long but equal intervals, and mingling with melancholy dreams. Night arrived; and with its shadows a heavy discomfort. It oppressed my limbs with the oppression of some dull weight, and was palpable. There was also a moaning sound, not unlike the distant reverberation of surf, but more continuous, which, beginning with the first twilight, had grown in strength with the darkness. Suddenly lights were brought into the room, and this reverberation became forthwith interrupted into frequent unequal bursts of the same sound, but less dreary and less distinct. The ponderous oppression was in a great measure relieved; and, issuing from the flame of each lamp, (for there were many,) there flowed unbrokenly into my ears a strain of melodious monotone. And when now, dear Una, approaching the bed upon which I lay outstretched, you sat gently by my side, breathing odor from your sweet lips, and pressing them upon my brow, there arose tremulously within my bosom, and mingling with the merely physical sensations which circumstances had called forth, a something akin to sentiment itself — a feeling that, half appreciating, half responded to your earnest love and sorrow; but this feeling took no root in the pulseless heart, and seemed indeed rather a shadow than a reality, and faded quickly away, first into extreme quiescence, and then into a purely sensual pleasure as before.
Capitolo V – Vivamus – from “Carme V” by Catullo
Vivamus mea Lesbia, atque amemus,
rumoresque senum seueriorum
omnes unius aestimemus assis!
soles occidere et redire possunt:
nobis cum semel occidit breuis lux,
nox est perpetua una dormienda.
da mi basia mille, deinde centum,
dein mille altera, dein secunda centum,
deinde usque altera mille, deinde centum.
dein, cum milia multa fecerimus,
conturbabimus illa, ne sciamus,
aut ne quis malus inuidere possit,
cum tantum sciat esse basiorum.
