VANWELDEN CAROLL - CD SINGS SHAKESPEARE SONNET

Popis - SINGS SHAKESPEARE SONNET:
According to the specialized press, the CD Caroll Vanwelden Sings Shakespeare Sonnets instantly established Caroll Vanwelden as one of the most important vocal artists of her time. North German Broadcasting (Norddeutscher Rundfunk, NDR) spoke of a “poetry of beauty” and commented that Vanwelden “pleasantly transposes Shakespeare’s rhythms, with minimalistic repetitions and also the occasional complicated time signature change. The sonnet-songs glide along in a nearly hypnotic flow. [Translation]” (NDR 2012/ 10/ 22) The Financial Times Deutschland praised more than a dozen different attributes of Caroll Vanwelden’s music: „William Shakespeare also did jazz—it’s just that no one has ever noticed it before! What this Belgian singer and her three fellow musicians produce sounds so breathtaking, so natural and fresh, that there can be no doubt about this assertion, however surprising. It sparkles from the very first note, the instrumentation for the 16 sonnets was very astutely selected, and Vanwelden’s voice-leading shines with languid elegance and intensity. „Gripping, zestful, optimistic and gleeful, subtly iridescent or dreamily light, the notes make Shakespeare’s words stronger. And through them, a whole new world of Shakespeare is revealed, complete with contemporary tone colors and music styles. An enthralling experience with fascinating transformations—simply inspirational! [Translation]“ (Financial Times Deutschland, 2012/ 10/ 21) Stereo Magazine put it succinctly: “Here we have an album that has what it takes to be CD of the Year.” And yet Caroll Vanwelden’s awe of the Bard is not inconsiderable: the most influential writer of all time, whom Goethe himself revered and lauded above all others. Ever since her youth, Caroll has been fascinated by the musicality of Shakespeare’s sonnets, which makes up their soul, as well as the original source of their name (“sonnet”). Ever since working closely with the sonnets on a project years ago (which never came to fruition), Shakespeare’s words have been slowly ripening into melodies for Caroll. In the end it took two years of intensive work for Vanwelden to transform sixteen sonnets into one exceptional CD. “And anyone who is maybe a little bit afraid of complex baroque poetry will be in for a big surprise with this CD. The lyrics sound light and airy, which is of course because of Vanwelden’s voice, which flirts with the originals but also brings in a keen stridency and an icy tone at times. [Translation]” (Jazzthing, 2012/ 10/ 25) Born in Ghent, Belgium, in East Flanders and raised bilingual, Caroll Vanwelden realized early on that she was meant to be a singer. However, instead of neglecting her other calling, mathematics, Vanwelden became an engineer before deciding to study jazz at the Ghent Conservatory. After a time, she was granted admittance into London’s prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama, one of three students granted the honor. Without a doubt one of the best known talent pools worldwide, Guildhall’s graduates include William Primrose, Jacqueline du Pr?, and James Gallway, as well as Dave Holland, Bryn Terfel, and Anne Sophie von Otter, not to mention the internationally renowned actors Daniel Craig, Orlando Bloom, Ewan McGregor, and Max Irons. Since graduating from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with high honors, Caroll Vanwelden has continued her life as a musician in a variety of formations and genres. She has worked with classical conductor Alexander Rahbari and the Belgian Radio and Television Philharmonic Orchestra, sung in a television production of a musical, and toured China and India as a cultural ambassador at the invitation of King Philipp of Belgium (then Prince Philipp). It would be a shame to miss Caroll Vanwelden’s earlier CD’s while paying so much attention to her Shakespeare project. In fact, the versatility of this gifted singer manifests itself in the widely varying styles of her CD’s, in both Colours and Cheek to Cheek. While Cheek to Cheek is a full-fledged tribute to jazz standards, Colours, Vanwelden’s earlier CD, includes self-composed songs. And A World Without Frontiers is a testament to the freedom that Caroll Vanwelden enjoys as singer, arranger and composer. This freedom is also evident in the interview in Jazz Podium (Nov. 2012) in which Vanwelden tells of “a large unity, a large-scale world music” and “not just either-or, jazz or bossa or salsa… [Translation]” Cheek to Cheek was a great success and made Vanwelden the best-known jazz singer in all of Belgium. Today the CD enjoys good sales as far away as Japan, already boasting the same features that distinguish Vanwelden’s Shakespeare CD: her distinctive voice and sophisticated technique. At the same time, listeners are struck by the vibrancy that brings each and every one of her pieces to life, whether tender or spirited, passionate or sorrowful, lively or melancholy. This vitality arises from the singer’s uncanny ability to find the perfect pairing of words and music. Just as the ancient Greeks defined the ideal balance in their teachings on prosody.