Search - Eliane Elias :: Fantasia

A lovely lady with a tremendous talent

Joachim Detlef Hansen | Boston, Mass. | 06/19/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I make my living as a classical pianist. For fun, I teach music at the local community college and Church. I was in Des Moines, Iowa to perform a concert with the Des Moines Symphony, and I was offered caught Ms.Elias at the Civic center. Just the site of her takes a man's breath away, but once she started playing,it was incredible. I've bought several of her albums since, and I am not disappointed with any of them.This Brazilian beauty,in my opinion, is one of the greatest pianists I have heard in a very long time."

Eliane's Piano Illuminates Brazilian Classics

Jinkyu | 01/07/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This 1992 CD was Eliane's second one devoted to Brazilian classics; she had recorded "Eliane Elias Plays Jobim" three years prior. Thus, this Brazilian beauty here performs her native sounds and handles all the production and arrangements with a dose of experience. Her piano dominates over the rhythm section. Eliane's vocals amount to only a few brief chants and harmonies; the focus is on instrumental work.



Two Jobim bossa novas, his groundbreaking "The Girl from Ipanema" and "Wave," start things off as Eliane establishes her pattern of some interpreting and some soloing (at times it seems the same thing). She does four-song medleys each of songs by Milton Nascimiento and Ivan Lins. On his entries, Ivan chips in with occasional wailing vocals that are not very appealing. In the Nascimiento medley, Eliane ethereally orbits the "Cravo e Canela" motif, suspending things with tension then delivering, making for very beautiful music. She also cruises in Ary Barroso's "Bahia" and the Jobim classic bossa nova "No More Blues" (Chega de Saudade). Her slow and pretty (but brief) "Fantasia" is sandwiched between the two to make a nice run of three. The title track is Eliane's only original composition.



Sometimes Eliane's piano work is pleasantly meandering -- light or flowery -- and other times it is lively Brazilian jazz/bossa nova. She performs a lot of straight-ahead or directional soloing, and she supplies the potency when called for in the lively moments. She captures the spirit and the beauty of these Brazilian classics in what makes for very enjoyable listening. Eliane has performed Brazilian classics on many of her CDs now, but this is one of a limited number whose tracks are all Brazilian songs, which she plays so well.

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