Pelagos (album)

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Pelagos
Recording by
Stefano Battaglia
Released15 September 2017
RecordedMay 2016
VenueFazioli Concert Hall, Sacile, Italy
GenreJazz
LabelECM
ProducerManfred Eicher

Pelagos is a solo piano album by Stefano Battaglia. It was recorded in 2016 and released by ECM Records the following year.

Background[]

Pianist Stefano Battaglia had recorded six albums for ECM Records prior to this one.[1] The theme of the album is "the suffering countries of the Mediterranean and Balkan areas."[1] For the two days before the recording, Battaglia was in a monastery, "meditating upon the meaning of migration [every kind of migration]."[1]

Recording and music[]

The album of solo piano performances by Battaglia was recorded at the Fazioli Concert Hall in Sacile, Italy[1] in May 2016.[2] Two sessions were recorded at the same venue – one with an audience and one without.[1] Some of the pieces include playing on a prepared piano.[3]

Approximately four hours of music were recorded.[4] Producer Manfred Eicher selected around two hours of playing for release.[4] Of the tracks, five ("Pelagos", "Halap", "Exilium", "Migration Mantra" and "Ufratu") are Battaglia compositions,[2] eleven are improvisations[1] and one is a traditional Arabic song, "Lama Bada Yatathanna", that is performed twice.[3]

Some of the track titles are in keeping with the album's theme: "Lampedusa" is an Italian island where migrant boats from Libya landed.[1] "Horgos e Roszke" are towns on the Hungary–Serbia border.[1] "Exilium" means "exile" in Latin; while "Destino" is Italian for "destiny".[1] The first of these four is an improvisation; "Crushed notes, in pairs, become slowly louder, in protest or simply in pain."[1] The second is also an improvisation, played quietly.[1] The final two "are founded on a few dark repeating left-hand chords like knells of finality, from which Battaglia's right hand seeks release in markings upon silence, in isolated notes that gather to bare melodies."[1] Additionally, "Ufratu" is named after the Euphrates.[4]

Release and reception[]

Pelagos was released by ECM on 15 September 2017.[2] Applause was cut from the recording, so does not appear on the album.[1]

The JazzTimes reviewer believed that this was the best of Battaglia's ECM recordings: "Pelagos is an achievement of extraordinary depth, realized through an extraordinary range of artistic means."[1]

Track listing[]

Disc one[]

  1. "Destino"
  2. "Pelagos"
  3. "Migralia"
  4. "Lamma Bada Yatathanna"
  5. "Processional"
  6. "Halap"
  7. "Dogon"
  8. "Life"

Disc two[]

  1. "Lampedusa"
  2. "Hora Mundi"
  3. "Lamma Bada Yatathanna"
  4. "Exilium"
  5. "Migration Mantra"
  6. "Horgos e Roszke"
  7. "Ufratu"
  8. "Heron"
  9. "Brenner Toccata"

Tracks drawn from the concert performance are: 1, 3–6, 8 (CD1); 2, 4, 5, 8 (CD2)[2]

Personnel[]

  • Stefano Battaglia – piano

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Conrad, Thomas (29 November 2017). "Stefano Battaglia: Pelagos (ECM)". JazzTimes. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Pelagos – Stefano Battaglia". ecmrecords.com. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b McClenaghan, Dan (14 October 2017). "Stefano Battaglia: Pelagos". AllAboutJazz. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c Panken, Ted (November 2017). "Stefano Battaglia – Creation Without Compromise". DownBeat. p. 28.
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