Mediterranea From Raighes Factory

Mediterranea

From Raighes Factory

Written by

Steve Sheppard

A truly interesting concept came my way this morning, and from a location that I know only too well, the project is called Mediterranea, by a collective of fine musical geniuses, all in a contemplative solo piano, neo-classical styled album, being even more intrigued I gave it a listen, and was completely chilled and extremely impressed at its conclusion.

The opener is gifted to us by Michele Nobler and a more fluent and impressive beginning you would be hard pressed to find, there was something quite reflective and emotive about Isola Luce del Mare that I found quite enticing and soothing as well.

Golfo Degli Angeli is brought to us by pianist Ada De Antonio, the composition is craft-fully played and has a very sensitive energy about its construction, the performance is extremely gentle in its tone, and this restful narrative is indeed a charming composition to come across.

The person behind this entire concept is one Roberto Diana and here he is under the guise of the artist known as Claus Egan, with an arrangement entitled Isola dei Gabbiani. Here we have a piece that is seemingly bathed in many memories, but one that also has a sublime sense of beauty about its enactment as well.

We now move to track four by The PianoPlayer, it is called Rosa Dei Venti. Once more there is a deeply thoughtful narrative here to enjoy, one steeped in a classical style that gives us a wonderful European flavour to revel within.

A delicate and subtle dimension of natural sea sounds herald the arrival of this next offering entitled Sorrento, and brought to us via Gian Marco La Serra & Andrea Moro. This piece has such a soft and serene nature about its construction that it is a simple delight to listen to, perfect for the sun bed upon my balcony in the Mediterranean.

As we approach the half way marker we come across a wonderfully modern composition entitled Bajda Ridge. This chilled arrangement has the potential to become a chart hit with the right lyrics, and the melody was a pleasure to swim within, in what was a very special performance by Lorenzo Tempesti.

With one tentative foot we now step into the second half of the release and come across one of my favourites off the album called Biserta, played by pianist Christophe Luciani. Short form it maybe, at just over a minute, but to create such colourful art in just 76 seconds is stunning to say the least.

I gaze out over my balcony and look at the vast swathes of the lapis coloured Mediterranean, and delight in listening to this track called appropriately Sea by KeyPiKo. This one had a gloriously grand quality about its presentation, the performance by the artist was powerful, yet layered with a feeling of sensitivity too; another personal favourite of mine was found within the realm of this utterly splendid offering.

As we move into the deeper waters of the release we arrive at the musical portal marked Aurelia Aurita. This is a composition that literally sparkled like a blanket of lights upon a night time ocean horizon, the slight repeating, yet changing motifs, gave me a wonderfully ambient and gentle energy of movement within the music, in what I regard as a cleverly played performance and by non-other than artist Manuel Zito.

This next track made me think quite deeply, it is entitled Ad un passo dal Mare, in fact I was entranced by this offering. At times this reminded me in style and performance of Debussy, but one also bathed in the elegance of a lullaby. This is certainly one of the finest pieces off the album, and one that is all too easy to drift off to sleep whilst listening to, an utterly magnificent offering indeed, thank you The PianoPlayer.

One will find a blissful composition on this next arrangement entitled Passeggiata a Caprera. The performance by Collettivo Armonico also known to us as Roberto Diana, is unreservedly excellent, the steady neo-classical crossover with a little new age piano was radiant in its presentation, and craft-fully played too.

As we draw near to the end of the album we now come across our penultimate offering, it is entitled Tavolara by Ebe De Antonio. A slight sense of mystery can be found within the narrative of this fine composition, and played with such a deft hand that it left me waiting for the next segment; the use of pause here was brilliantly executed as well.

Our last track is entitled Verso Lampedusa and performed for us by Igor Longhi.  This marvellous neo-classical offering finishes the album off with a flourish, a clever weaving of sensitivity and intent can be found here of what is a clever and skilful way to end the release.

Mediterranea is an album of style and elegance brought to you by 11 different performers, and is without doubt one of the finest collections of solo piano work I have heard this year with ease. There are many stand-out offerings within this vast compilation of skilful performances, but taken as a whole, Mediterranea is an album that every discerning piano lover should be running out to add to their collections as quick as they can.