Compositions of Monteverdi, Frescobaldi, Merula, Mazzochi, Rossi, Kapsberger and Quagliati
Release on 1.3.2024!
Extremely proud of a triple nomination:
- Female Vocalist of the Year
- Young Artist of the Year
- Vocal solo, category song with Linda Leine
Irgendwo auf der Welt
Compositions of Erich Zeisl, Joseph Achron, Arnold Schönberg, Georg Kreisler, Ruth Schonthal, Ilse Webe, Mischa Spoliansky, Othmar Schoeck, Rudi Stephan, Paul Ben-Haim, Ursula Mamlok, Rosy Wertheim, Bert Reisfeld / Albrecht Marcuse, Oskar Fried, Stefan Wolpe, Werner Richard Heymann
Cultural conspiracy
Overall, you can sense the joy and fun that both musicians have with each other and with their repertoire. The effortlessly guided voice and the pianistic openness lend the music a poetically diverse character. Jörg Konrad, Kulturkomplott, 23.11.2022
Concerti
Soprano Pia Davila and pianist Linda Leine deliver a real repertoire expansion with this album: songs, songs, chansons, revue numbers and hits mainly from the time of the Weimar Republic. Almost all of them were written by artists who were soon ostracised by the Nazis - from Arnold Schönberg to Stefan Wolpe, from Werner Richard Heymann to Georg Kreisler. Some female composers are also represented, such as Ursula Mamlok and Ilse Weber. All presented with great empathy and versatility, pointed and appealing. More of this, please! (EW), Concerti, October 2022
Daily Mirror
Soprano Pia Davila and her piano partner Linda Leine, for example, have delved deep into the music archives and compiled a stunning selection of intelligent art songs from the years 1895 to 1974 for their album "Irgendwo auf der Welt". (...)
Pia Davila and Linda Leine's examination of this dark chapter in music history is serious, but the album is by no means depressing. On the contrary: these miniatures are often cheeky and funny. (...) So you can start your acoustic voyage of discovery depending on your current mood. Inspiring! Frederik Hanssen, Tagesspiegel, 14.12.2022
ORF
Listeners can expect an extremely varied album. Pia Davila convinces with great commitment and her multi-faceted voice, (...) Linda Leine accompanies sensitively - with fluency and ease. Daniela Knaller, ORF, 22/09/2022
Music and theatre
Laughter with tears
This extremely exciting and witty collection of song miniatures, most of which are hardly known and the composers are often only known by name, ranges between cabaret, chanson and avant-garde. The singer Pia Davila lets her voice reach far beyond the usual regions of cultivated soprano singing, and Linda Leine also masters the most diverse piano idioms. A recital that also makes clear what a culturally diverse time the 1920s were and what was destroyed in the Nazi terror. Reinmar Wagner, Music and Theatre, 10.2022
Rondo Magazine
Davila performs these songs expressively, with esprit and a great sense of wry humour. Leine sets striking accents as her accompanist on the grand piano.
Corina Kolbe, Rondo Magazine, 29.10.2022
Music itself
The compositional quality ranges from rather popular or pop-like to sophisticated art songs. It is as colourful and lively as the cover promises.
At the same time, vocal versatility and adaptability are required. Davila has plenty of this. Her soprano, whose operatic experience can be heard, may not be a true soubrette voice, but she carries it with great agility and ease. The charmingly flirtatious character is easy to take from her. Sven Kerkhoff, Music itself, 11.2022
Altmark Newspaper
An entertaining late afternoon ended with a smile and a big round of applause. Kai Zuber, Altmark newspaper, 06.10.2022
Aachener Zeitung
The entertainment value of the album should not be underestimated, despite the gloomy life circumstances of the composers and some of the lyricists. The pianist also contributes to this with her unconventional piano playing. P.Ob, Aachener Zeitung, 23.9.2022
Pizzicato
In a highly original programme, soprano Pia Davila and pianist Linda Leine present songs by ostracised, expelled and murdered composers. (...) Davila and Leine always find the right tone, and Pia Davila's interpretations do justice to every emotional mood, whether she is singing Ilse Weber's deathly sad 'Und der Regen rinnt' and 'Wiegala', Spoliansky's bitterly ironic 'Ich bin ein Vamp' or Hugo Salus' classic 'Der genügsame Liebhaber'. The album Irgendwo auf der Welt is therefore a wonderful collection of small, precious songs that you should definitely know. Alain Steffen, Pizzicato, 27.09.2022
deutschlandfunk
Pia Davila sings with great versatility and with fun in her own voice. She can sound operatic or mean, smoky, seductive and over-the-top.
Pia Davila throws herself passionately into the role of the barmaid, who describes herself as a bovine animal, with plenty of humour and the courage to be dissonant.
The tragedy behind the bar sung by Pia Davila and Linda Leine. And what lurks after a visit to the bar? Exactly, the hangover. Erich Zeisl has ingeniously set this corrosive state to music.
Erich Zeisl's musical language is very unique, expressionistic, but his songs also sound very melodic. The texts he has set to music are often bizarre and ironic. Pia Davila and Linda Leine have selected extremely short pieces by him. Here Zeisl shows himself to be a true master of the miniature. With very few notes, he succeeds in creating a captivating mood that immediately conjures up images in the mind.
Pia Davila's soft, cosy voice comes into its own wonderfully in this folk song-like melody. Pianist Linda Leine also masters the soft, dusky tone colours. She can be heard very delicately in a piece for solo piano, "Ein Regentag" by Erich Zeisl.
Linda Leine plays Georg Kreisler's waltz in a beautifully comical manner.
There is a lot to discover on the CD by Pia Davila and Linda Leine, especially new, exciting repertoire! For this reason alone, it is worth listening to the recording.
Marie König, deutschlandfunk, 09.10.2022
Classical music today
You can hear Pia Davila and Linda Leine's sheer delight in this programme and they know how to convey it to the listener. I particularly admire the brilliant and trenchant playing of the pianist who, in addition to the challenging accompaniment of the songs, also contributes three solo pieces, including a waltz from Georg Kreisler's Sonata (1952), which I had not heard before, in which Viennese and American light music rub up against each other in a delightful way. I would have liked the text of the equally dazzling and vocally interesting soprano to have been even more exposed in some cases (such as the pigeon poisoning). Although Ms Davila articulates clearly, her overall approach to the texts is very defensive. (...) She is most convincing in the emotional songs such as the Berceuse Wiegala by Ilse Weber, composed in Theresienstadt, or A woman's Last Word (1977) by Ruth Schonthal. Ekkehard Pluta, Klassik heute, 06.10.2022
Opera lounge
The chirped miniature differs from Zeisl's other songs, but nevertheless shows his stylistic desire and versatility. "Zwitschern" is the name of the duo's first group. And so Davila, emphatically supported by Leine, chirps away cheerfully in the songs. (...) It is an enormous task that the artists have taken on, whereby the songs, as different as they may be, are surprisingly securely stapled together by the time of their creation. (...) A beautiful, cleverly compiled programme. Gerhard Eckels, Operalounge, 11.2022
operatic characters
The main tenor of this CD, which consists of 6 sections (...), is therefore rather serious but never hopeless and always carried by Davila's pure voice and Leine's sensitive accompaniment.
But she can do so much more with her voice leading, her wide vocal range, her passion for music and singing and her always flawless diction.
Pia Davila and Linda Leine always hit the right note, not only literally but also figuratively. The selection deals with (human) nature in all its facets, from lasciviousness to (deathly) longing, and never leaves a moment untouched or cold. Conclusion: All in all, Somewhere in the World is ideal for this time of year, when nature is slowly allowing itself some peace and quiet, rain is pouring down from the sky more often, while the birds are chirping less and less often, one or the other is purring cosily inside Some people find comfort and hope in this dark time of year, snuggled up in warm blankets on the sofa, with hot chocolate with or without a shot.
And of course also when listening to music, even music that doesn't - or rather only here and there - sprinkle and invite you to sing along, but rather to really listen. To forget the grey here and now, to remember those who, in truly dark times, found support in their own creativity, which we can now enjoy, including the dissonances intended by the composers. Not to mention the quality of the performance, the very individual, sometimes positively idiosyncratic interpretation.
Birgit Kleinfeld, operngestalten, 11.10.22
Orchestra pit
As soon as they started playing, the musicians had already put the interested audience in an entertaining mood, as they used their full skills to emphasise the various emotional aspects of the songs, even in contrasts. With Davila's operatic background, the agility and flexibility of her performance came as no surprise, but Linda Leine was also able to delight the audience with her humorous expressiveness on the piano. In the very first section, they were happy to indulge in wit and irony in works by Erich Zeisl, Arnold Schönberg and Georg Kreisler.
The organisers as well as Pia Davila and Linda Leine treated the audience to a varied and emotionally charged concert evening (...) Stefan Pillhofer, Orchestergraben, 27.9.2022
Orchestra pit
Both musicians delight me with the high level of familiarity they have developed over the years of their collaboration. This familiarity takes place on several levels, on the one hand in exciting thematic ping-pong, but also in the accurate harmonisation of moods, for example when they interpret Schönberg's "Im Fliederbusch ein Vöglein saß" in a very contemplative and small way, but then play "Die fünf Hühnerchen" by Erich Zeisl in a very defiantly narrative manner. You can always easily recognise the concept of the two, and in terms of interpretation they go hand in hand through the disc.
A wonderful aspect that I haven't mentioned so far are the solo pieces for piano on the CD, which Linda Leine plays with great pianistic flavour and yet in perfect harmony with the album concept. Linda Leine's accompaniment is pointed, sharp and agile, and once again forms the perfect counterpart to Pia Davila's very spatial sound moulding, which ideally approximates the habitus of the animal being sung about.
With "Irgendwo auf der Welt", Linda Leine and Pia Davila present an album that not only impresses with its first-class artistic execution, but also with its multidimensional programme concept. Stefan Pillhofer, orchestergraben, 25.10.2022
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Donnerstag aus Licht [THURSDAY from LIGHT]
musical direction Maxime Pascal
stage direction Benjamin Lazar
a film by David Daurier
Camera lucida productions
Philharmonie de Paris / Festival d'Automne à Paris / Conservatoire De Paris Cnsmdp / Stockhausen-Stiftung für Musik / Stockhausen Foundation for Music / Fabernovel / La Fugue
"Universum"
New Compositions by Aigerim Seilova und Orestis Papaioannou
Cover Art: Shiwen Wang
Soprano: Pia Davila
Piano: Hanne Franzen
Electronics: Dong Zhou
Recording: Taizhi Shao (Urban Songs), Claudia Neumann(Bir Bala)
Mixing: Dong Zhou (Urban Songs), Claudia Neumann (Bir Bala)
Nominated for the longlist of the German Record Critics' Award in two categories!
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
L'incoronazione di Poppea (Fassung nach dem Neapel-Manuskript 1651)
conductor: Andreas Reize
Pia Davila, Poppea
Elvira Bill, Nerone
Geneviève Tschumi, Ottavia
Jan Börner, Ottone
Lisandro Abadie, Seneca
Kathrin Hottiger, Fortuna / Pallade / Damigella
Julia Sophie Wagner, Virtù / Drusilla
Marion Grange, Amore / Valletto
Sebastian Monti, Nutrice / Arnalta
Michael Feyfar, Soldato / Lucano / Console
Tobias Wicky, Mercurio / Littor
Hans Jörg Mammel, Soldato / Liberto / Console
Thomas Selle (1599-1663)
Kinder des Liechts
Virtuose Laudationes & kleine geistliche Concerti
Anne Schneider, soprano
Pia Davila, soprano
Florian Sievers, tenor
Stephan Scherpe, tenor
Sönke Tams Freier, bass
The Muses’ Fellows
Monika Mandelartz, conductor
Nominated as "Young Artist of the Year" and "Singer of the Year"
o luna mia
Compositions of Claude Debussy, Tarquinio Merula, Lorenzo Romano and Aigerim Seilova
Eric Schneider, piano
Andreas Nachtsheim, Lutes
NDR Kultur
“With her well-focused, finely articulated soprano voice, which shines beautifully at the top, and her refined sense of languages, she shows many different facets, humor and interpretive prowess.”
Eva Maria Schramm, 13.01.2021
ORF – Ö1 Des Cis
“Pia Davila then leads the listener through an imaginary day. The accompaniment for the soprano voice is as varying from piece to piece as the compositions themselves: a cappella, electronic sounds, piano and baroque guitar.” Daniela Knaller, 26.01.2021
Der Tagesspiegel
The sun rises, and later the moon: the Berlin soprano sings of the events of a day on her debut album spanning 400 years in music history. With lutes, with electronics, solo. Clear diction, cheeky sayings, a shimmering timbre, weightless – the way in which one would like to go through the day.
Christiane Peitz, 14.3.2021
AZ/AN
The debut CD of the Berlin-native soprano Pia Davila brings together the unexpected and the unusual in a delightful manner. With “her” moon as the chosen title, the listener may be justified in suspecting that some humor has crept into the program. (…) All of which is carried by the 32 year-old soprano’s voice, which is exceptionally pure, bell-like, and at the same time perfectly capable of radiating warmth. Musical intelligence and talent form a happy union here. The combination of the extremes of contemporary and baroque works particularly well. For Debussy’s symbolism, more dramatic voices have more glowing colors; nevertheless Pia Davila’s interpretation of the two famous Claire de Lune is captivating. A fantastic debut. (Ark) 9.1.2021
Lüneburger Landeszeitung
Classical music for three: Pia Davila ventures tremendous leaps between periods on her debut album. The soprano compiled very few well-known songs, which revolve around day and night and stylistically include a range from early baroque to contemporary. (…) Adding to the coherence of the album is the accompaniment by Eric Schneider (piano) and Andreas Nachtsheim (lute), which underlies the intimate, personal character of the quite demanding album with all of its expressiveness. oc 23.2.2021, Nr 45
Klassik Heute
Without question it is an exceptionally original and impressive debut album, which the Berlin soprano Pia Davila has presented here. The eponymous moon acts solely as a point of reference for a journey through a day and (musically) over four centuries. The very old and the brand new are constantly colliding and set in relation to each other. Feeling at home in every genre, the singer is a competent “travel guide”.
(…) the singer, who – predominantly a cappella – has to alternate between speaking, whispering and singing, takes us to the outer limits of the voice: a brilliant vocal performance by Pia Davila. (…)
Ekkehard Pluta, 27.1.2021
Das Opernglas
(…) How courageous does one have to be to bridge several centuries! Pia Davila deliberately placed three pieces (with electronic accompaniment), composed in 2019 for an opera, directly after Merula and, in doing so, achieves a wonderful effect as the early baroque songs influence the music of the 21st century and visa versa. A cleverly put-together program always offers new perspectives. J. Gahre, February 2021
WDR3
A concept for a song album, far removed from anything mainstream. (…) Kerstin Peetz:
“Anyone recording an album such as this is deliberately handing out a musical business card to advertise his or herself to organizers and agents. If the result is also a well-thought-out album, as is the case here, it shows Pia Davila has done everything right. Her program “O Luna Mia” is thoughtfully put together and shows her enormous vocal and stylistic versatility. The young soprano traverses the interpretational horizon of this constellated repertoire with ultimate confidence and impressively demonstrates the technical possibilities of her exceptional voice.”
operngestalten
(…) Above all, however, she is an artist who confidently does not do what “one” does, or do it how “one” does it, but instead dares to take untrodden paths.
(...) Like good literature, this music is best enjoyed in small bites. But with a focus on the melody, text and soprano voice.
(…) On this album Pia Davila offers pure singing without any frills or arbitrariness that are not specified by the composer.
Birgit Kleinfeld, 16.2.2021
Ihr Opernratgeber
(…) The dynamic range in the piano passages is marvelous. Subsequently there are three songs by Claude Debussy, which are carefully and delicately carved out, whereby each one, particularly the last one, is bestowed with its own touching timbre. … songs delight with their rhythmic crispness. … All three songs are imbued with emotion and sensitivity, and for each of these songs she finds a distinct color.
Sven Godenrath, 20.12.2020
Deutschlandfunk
It’s all in the mix: Pia Davila incorporates early baroque, Debussy and contemporary music on her debut album. This keeps the ears perked while listening and shows the diversity with which she establishes herself.
... This “Luna incostante” is an interesting piece…
... From the very first three tracks, the soprano Pia Davila presents all three musical languages
… It is enjoyable to listen to how gently and sensitively Andreas Nachtsheim accompanies her on the lute. Even in piano he adjusts the balance with great sensitivity and lets the music breathe through very gentle changes in tempo. Giving Pia Davila a good platform.
... She sings with a clear sound and wonderful diction. She forms secure and stable vowels, which at the same flow gently forward. The consonants are clearly articulated, and she delightfully savors their sounds.
... Pia Davila is very open to contemporary music and supports it. It is unusual for a young singer not only to include first recordings on her debut CD but also to commission them for it. She engages particularly with the ideas of her own generation.
But Pia Davila’s interest in contemporary music already becomes clear by just listening to this album, as she shows the full range of her vocal abilities especially in the new works.
… to be able to reach across fragments of movements and to sustain the tension by means of intense, vibrant tones. She stays close to the text, evidently loving to tell its story.
Jonas Zerweck, 17.01.2021
In Licht, Oeke Hoogendijk shows the creative process of the most radical project in the history of music theatre: an opera written by the legendary and controversial composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. It took him 26 years to write this day-long larger-than-life opera. His magnum opus, however, was never performed; production-wise it was too complicated, logistically almost impossible and also simply too expensive. Until 2019, when the Dutch National Opera, the Holland Festival, the Royal Conservatoire and the Stockhausen Foundation for Music took up the challenge of performing the opera cycle. The documentary Licht reconstructs Stockhausen's musical universe on the basis of the making-of of this opera cycle, against the background of his dramatic life story.
“Licht is also an undisguised portrait of composer Stockhausen's family and love story […]. A document from a bygone era.” – ★★★★ de Volkskrant
“Properly illustrates the human side of this demanding, difficult music” – ★★★★ NRC
“A fascinating portrait of composer Karlheinz Stockhausen” – Het Parool
“Hoogendijk knows how to separate those two aspects – genius and people – with great ingenuity.” – the Film Newspaper
Prix du Jury, Festival International du Film sur l‘Art Montreal, 2022
Ben Leeds Carson
By a Moment and a Word
WONDERMENT AND MISGIVING
IN MARSHALL FIELD
In Marshall Field (2020) for high voice, piano, and sampler
Pia Davila, soprano
Hanne Franzen, piano
Dong Zhou, sampler
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Pietà
Pia Davila, soprano
Marco Blaauw, flugelhorn
Sebastian Schottke, recording
Label Musikfabrik Köln
Unabridged audio book production complete with 3D sound
This release offers a lavishly produced 3D audio book with a captivating soundtrack of music and sound design. Tom Vogt, also known as the voice of Colin Firth, Clive Owen and Laurence Fishburne, among others, gives a dramatic reading with enthralling clarity and brilliant flexibility. Alternately and with fascinating vibrancy, the author also lends her voice to the recording in narrating the dark past of the labyrinth.
Information about this audio book
Authors: Cornelia Funke & Guillermo del Toro
Read by: Tom Vogt & Cornelia Funke
Unabridged Version: 423 minutes
Formats: available as 1 MP3 CD elaborately packaged in silver foil or as a download
The Hamburger Bachchor’s current CD is available in the Petri-Shop during the regular opening hours of the church.
German poetry read by Daniel Kaiser is interspersed with songs sung by Pia Salome Bohnert together with piano and organ improvisations. Evening songs, such as “Der Mond ist aufgegangen”, “Kein schöner Land in dieser Zeit” and “Nun ruhen alle Wälder” as well as motets by Reger, Rheinberger and Stanford, can be heard on this recording.