Pelagos (album)

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

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

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. Conrad, Thomas (29 November 2017). "Stefano Battaglia: Pelagos (ECM)". JazzTimes. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  2. "Pelagos – Stefano Battaglia". ecmrecords.com. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  3. McClenaghan, Dan (14 October 2017). "Stefano Battaglia: Pelagos". AllAboutJazz. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  4. Panken, Ted (November 2017). "Stefano Battaglia – Creation Without Compromise". DownBeat. p. 28.
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