Search - Martino Corimbi, Piero Pala :: Voches De Sardinna / Tenore E Cuncordu De Orosei

In keeping with producer Stefan Winter's dually audiophile and fieldwork-quality recordings, this collection comes jacketed in a winsome book-binding style, with the disclaimer "20-bit digital recording with absolutely no processing" on the back. You could hardly improve the voices with any processing. They sound unlike anything west of Tuvan throat singing, with a stratified sound that has the bassu (bass) holding the deep, grumbly low end while sa cronta sets a harmonic middle ground for sa voche (literally, "the voice") and sa mesuvoche (the "middle voice") to intone the most narrative points in these songs. Sa cronta sets the rules, regulating and amplifying the overtone properties, giving the sacred songs on CD 2--as opposed to Tenore de Orosei's secular, celebration-oriented songs on CD 1--a liftoff that the front voices are more than willing to oblige. Cuncordu de Orosei expand on the secular volume's quartet format with two voices sharing voche and mesuvoche roles, creating a choral effect that aches with beauty. This collective of singers has studied the traditional Sardinian vocal style for decades, and with Winter's almost invisible production approach, their sound comes across with entrancingly gruff warmness. This package comes furnished with a richly annotated booklet complete with woodcut artwork. --Andrew Bartlett