Luciana Souza - Neruda
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Free Music Notes for Neruda
Free Music Review: Not Neruda in accented English, please
Hit: 2 Stars
As a Spanish speaker and admirer of (any) literature, I do believe that the most important aspect of any poetry is -- more than rhyme and structure -- its rhytm; unless, of course, someone's genius translates the same impact into another language. I cannot recall being fully satisfied when I read poetry outside its language; be it Pablo Neruda or Emily Dickinson. Here we have some of the most fabulous poetry of the XXth century translated into English and sung with a Brazilian accent....hmmm.
I admire Ms Souza's incredible musicianship. She is not just a singer, he is a true artist/musician trying to explore and expand, as has been succesfully proven in her Duos CDs. But her phrasing is rooted in Portuguese and these bland melodies do not lift Neruda's poetry out of his original milieu. So: two stars for the effort, but I cannot hear this disc again.
Free Music Review: Give an objective listen.
Hit: 4 Stars
I have to start out saying that the other reviews of this CD on the whole are unobjective. The good ones are blindly glowing and the bad ones are vitriol.
Here's a few facts. Souza is a fabulous singer. This is based on SOME of her previous cds and a mesmerizing live performance with Danilo Perez. In my experience Neruda, and most Spanish poetry, does not translate well into English. I received a book of his poetry and found it very bland. I checked with Spanish speakers and they confirmed translation problems. This is a music review however, not literature.
Now for the my review. I like it. The use of few instruments on each song and yet a variety of instruments throughout the cd make it enjoyable and interesting. Many of the other reviewers compared it to Holiday, Vaughn, Acuna and other great jazz/latin singers. I don't think this is a competition and if it was this cd would not be entered in that category. This is not a huge record. It is stripped down, almost stark. If I had to compare it to the performances of other singers I would go for Laura Nyro performing solo or Joni Mitchell.
I am glad to hear something like this because Souza is trying to make an artistic statment, not money. While it has it's failings, for me, it is ultimately more enjoyable than the predictable output of high dollar artists.
Listen to this for what it is, good music of no sepcific target genre. It won't take your breath away, but it will sneak up on you from time to time and make you think or sigh. Give an objective listen.
Free Music Review: Quiet simplicity, performed elegantly
Hit: 5 Stars
To begin: I highly recommend this album. But if you haven't heard it, here's what I recommend you do: after you buy it, but before you put it into your c.d. player, look at the liner notes; read the English translations of the Pablo Neruda poems; then read them out loud; then imagine how you might put these to music, if it were up to you; then listen.
These poems are elegant, direct, sadly reflective of life in their breadth, tapping into an endless reservoir of longing and of love. They demand a similarly elegant, direct, quiet and clean treatment; and that's exactly what Luciana Souza gives them in her original compositions.
Luciana Souza has an incredibly pure alto voice that never strains or cracks, and sounds the same regardless of which register she sings in. I don't know what it is about Brazilian singers, and why they are so able to capture that kind of emotional sound more than their American counterparts (e.g., Caetano Veloso, Milton Nascimento, anyone named Gilberto); but she does it here. And the instrumentation of piano and percussion (which Ms. Souza plays, everything from marimba to conga to snare) is perfect. Not too much, but not little.
Actually, the piano parts by Edward Simon (inspired by Federico Mompou) sound almost classical; I detected a bit of Grieg in "Loneliness", Satie in "Poetry", and Brahms in "Memory". This album is not for jazz purists; but if you like beautiful music that grows on you with each listen, regardless of genre, then this album is for you.
Ms. Souza was voted the #1 "Rising Star" in the 2004 Down Beat poll. She merits that; but on this evidence, she won't be a "rising star" for very long. As I said, highly recommended. RC
Free Music Review: Pablo Neruda en INGLES
Hit: 1 Stars
If you speak Spanish, you will be dismayed to hear how bland and shapeless his poems sound in English. Speaking of bland, the singing and music here is dullsville. With so many great Brazilian singers, why not listen to some old Joao Gilberto, or Joao's daughter Bebel, or Marisa Monte or Caetano Veloso. If you want the poetry of Neruda, reading it is more satisfying. This is a terrible combination of music and poetry. (Later comment: I listened to this cd again and I probably had unfair expectations and was unduly harsh. It's a pretty recording and Souza can sing...it still all kind of sounds the same, but 3 stars instead of 1.)Free Music Review: Soulful, relaxing, clearly beautiful...
Hit: 5 Stars
It does seem that some people have a negative agenda because Souza chose to work with the poetry of Neruda. I own about 25 or so books of Neruda's poetry, so I don't have to say anything about what I think of his work, but it seems the "purist English geeks" have an issue with this production... My best guess -- from reading Neruda's memoirs and other stories about him -- is that Pablo would love it... as I do.And if you've never heard Neruda's work, Luciana Souza's interpretations are heavenly. Well work every penny!