confined. speak.
New Focus, 2021
8/10
Despite the enormous obstacles faced with playing concerts this past year, Chicago’s Ensemble Dal Niente documents their recent collaborations here, where they feature several composers that touch on sounds from South America, North America and Africa.
The title track opens the listen with interesting bow techniques, where timbre manipulation and atypical piano textures illuminate the Igor Santos tune, and Hilda Paredes’ “Demente Cuerda” follows with an initially haunting climate of precise harp playing that’s capable of lush moments, as well as quivering intimacy.
Tomás Gueglio’s “Triste y madrigal” occupies the middle spot and benefits from Amanda DeBoer Bartlett’s soprano in the primarily bare orchestral climate, while “Merce and Baby” meshes violin and percussion in all sorts of unpredictable ways that illustrate creative gesturing in the George Lewis composition.
“Es casi como el inicio…y comienza”, by Melissa Vargas, resides near the end and showcases a minimal delivery where vocals are used like an instrument, and Andile Khumalo’s “Beyond Her Mask” exits the listen with spoken text about violence against women that flows amid a busy landscape of ambient, playful and even dreamy instrumentation.
A very well thought out chamber focused listen, the 23 members of Ensemble Dal Niente make for an adventure that can at times be stirring and stripped back, just as it can be majestic and full, and these 6 pieces do a great job of spotlighting their profound talents.
Travels well with: Mark Kirschenmann- Cybersonic Outreach; loadbang- Plays Well With Others