Venice

Description

Venice, which presents several facets of Anastasia Kobekina’s art, takes listeners away from the gloomy gondoliers and carnival masks that have given Venice its standard musical image. Instead, the album raises the question of how much of what we have internalized about this iconic city is actually real. “Venice is not just a city, but an idea, a character in itself,” says the cellist, “or perhaps it presents a different character for each of us. It asks questions, stimulates the imagination.” Her album presents a personal and warm conversation between past and present, with music ranging from the Renaissance of Claudio Monteverdi and John Dowland to the 21st century of Brian Eno and Caroline Shaw. Reflecting on a city that exists both physically and in the imagination, Venice creates and connects musical worlds. Some of the album’s most familiar music is reinvigorated by being taken out of context and placed in another. Less familiar music sounds strangely close to us. The effect is dreamlike, enchanting and stimulating — as mysterious, timeless and surprising as Venice itself. Among the works included are those of the free-spirited Venetian composer Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677). Between concertos by Vivaldi and Bach, the work of American composer Caroline Shaw, Limestone and Felt, plunges us into the present, with the punctuation of history playing out in sound. There are works by major 20th-century names in whose lives Venice played a role: Gabriel Fauré, Nino Rota and Benjamin Britten.