Search - Márta Sebestyén :: Apochrypha

A Nearly Perfect Album

Erika Borsos | 12/04/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The music enters your consciousness gently and takes you on a meandering ride through a variety of landscapes. Marta is your tour guide, and one does not have to understand her language to feel her message. I've found this album more enjoyable than any of her efforts previous or since. It lacks the hard edge of some of Muzickas's work, and is more consistent throughout than Sebestyan's "Kismet," which nonetheless deserves investigation by those who are enchanted by her timeless voice. "Apocrypha" is completely accessible yet not the least bit commercial. It's a recording I wouldn't want to do without."

First Solo Album for Hungarian Musical Diva Extraordinaire

Erika Borsos | Gulf Coast of FL, USA | 04/07/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After seeing the film, "English Patient" and hearing Marta Sebestyen for the first time, I was meszmerized by her voice. I had to have tapes or CDs or her music. All I could find was a Deep Forest tape on which she was soloist for one or two songs. I was quite ecstatic to discover "Apocrypha". I was unaware that a "traditional Hungarian music" revival had been occuring in Hungary since the mid-1970s. My pleasure multiplied exponentially when it dawned on me that Hungarian music was receiving world-wide recognition through the hypnotic, spine-tingling, ethereal voice of this musical artist along with the group Muzsikas. So much for my awakening ..."Apocrypha" contains hauntingly beautiful songs with understated simple lyrics that arouse deeply felt emotions and remind the listener of soul-searching events in life ... Track #1 "Tavasz Tavasz" ("Spring, Spring") is one that universally speaks to life renewing itself in the spring. Love is aroused when the grass turns green, when the flowers bloom and when couples walk in pairs ... However, tears fall like rain drops when the singer beseeches her beloved to return to her and to forget the past and forgive each other. The use of flowers and nature as imagery is very typical in Hungarian songs and perhaps throughout Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Track # 3 "Zugadoz az Erdo" ("Humming Forests") is a lovely tune, filled with imagery of the forest that mimicks human life ... The forest is humming, the fields are sparking, the wheat fields are ripe, waiting to be sown. The singer asks ... will her flower wait for her or will he find another? Will he return or will his hearth be overgrown with cottonweed? Although weeds are growing in the yellow mud, the goldenrod is blooming ... her heart yearns for him. Her heart is open and waiting but it is uncertain he will return ... although the goldenrod is blooming with leaves of pearl (i.e., dew on them). Track # 4 "Andras" ("Andrew") is a funeral lament, expressing the grief at losing her companion. The clock struck and he is gone ... the gates are closed on their life together. It is a bitter experience to eat the bread of grief ... the singer grieves for her companion to return. Track #9 "Szerelem, Szerlem" ("Love, Love") is one of the most evocative songs on this CD. It has *very* few verses but due to repetition, musical accompaniment and Marta's expressive haunting voice ... it could be considered her "signature song". While Marta's singing in the film, "English Patient" enhanced the story line, it also catapulted her voice to the center of the world stage where she receives standing ovations for her transcendental expressions of Hungarian traditional music. My highest recommendations. Erika Borsos (erikab93)"

Beautiful, really beautiful

Erika Borsos | 01/11/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Haunting, beautiful, melancholy, & rehumanizing. I'm sad to say I only have a cursory knowledge of Hungary and Magyar culture. This CD makes me aware of the lack. Don't let your fear of not knowing the language put you off. An extraordinary recording."