Diamanda Galás - In Concert
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Diamanda Galás "In Concert" is an intense, emotional journey. With only a piano and her extraordinary voice, Galás strips away the layers of time, tradition, and stylistic conventions to reveal the raw human emotion at the heart of each song. The album explores a wide range of genres, including rembetika, soul, ranchera, country, and free jazz, highlighting their hidden connections. Songs like "O Prósfigas," "La Llorona," "Let My People Go," and "Ánoixe Pétra" focus on themes of forsakenness and resilience, while others delve into the complexities of love. Recorded at Thalia Hall in Chicago and Neptune Theatre in Seattle in 2017, the album draws deeply from her Maniati Greek, Middle-Eastern Greek/Egyptian heritage and her experiences near the San Diego-Mexico border. Central to her performance are song types with ancient roots, especially the amané, an Anatolian Greek vocal improvisation expressing primal grief and loss. This timeless spirit is crucial to Galás's powerful and evocative performances.
Diamanda's unique vocals, and the drama and range she explores are undoubtedly masterpieces. When you listen to her voice, it feels like everything inside you breaks, tears, sobs, and screams—just like her vocals, which balance on the edge of singing, whispering, screaming, and traversing high and low registers. It's a vocal theater you simply cannot ignore. "A Soul That's Been Abused" is conveyed with such extreme passions that it's an emotional blow that's hard to recover from. Each piece, saturated with feelings, leaves a profound impact.
Just this extraordinary voice and a piano—seemingly minimal means—create a staggering effect. This arrangement brings out all the vocal richness and extraordinary theatrical power of the artist, leaving me with chills long after I finished listening. A bard, a performer, a sonic painter, Diamanda creates incredible soundscapes with her voice, evoking a myriad of associations, feelings, memories, and impressions from the depths of her heart. She is the true bard.
Under her hands, the piano sobs and screams, climbing and falling, creating a perfect backdrop for the vocals, which similarly build an extraordinary sound theater for our ears and sensitivity.
Breathtaking.
Diamanda's unique vocals, and the drama and range she explores are undoubtedly masterpieces. When you listen to her voice, it feels like everything inside you breaks, tears, sobs, and screams—just like her vocals, which balance on the edge of singing, whispering, screaming, and traversing high and low registers. It's a vocal theater you simply cannot ignore. "A Soul That's Been Abused" is conveyed with such extreme passions that it's an emotional blow that's hard to recover from. Each piece, saturated with feelings, leaves a profound impact.
Just this extraordinary voice and a piano—seemingly minimal means—create a staggering effect. This arrangement brings out all the vocal richness and extraordinary theatrical power of the artist, leaving me with chills long after I finished listening. A bard, a performer, a sonic painter, Diamanda creates incredible soundscapes with her voice, evoking a myriad of associations, feelings, memories, and impressions from the depths of her heart. She is the true bard.
Under her hands, the piano sobs and screams, climbing and falling, creating a perfect backdrop for the vocals, which similarly build an extraordinary sound theater for our ears and sensitivity.
Breathtaking.
https://diamandagalas.bandcamp.com/album/diamanda-gal-s-in-concert
Release date: 14.06.2024
Tracklist:
1. O Prosfigas (Live)
2. A Soul That's Been Abused (Live)
3. La Llorona (Live)
4. She (Live)
5. Let My People Go (Live)
6. Pardon Me, I've Got Someone To Kill (Live)
7. Anoixe Petra (Live)
