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| Press reactions to Karaindrou's music |  |
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"Brooding and romantic, these elegant pieces transport you into still landscapes shrouded in swirling fogs of ambiguous passion." - San Francisco Bay Guardian
"Brooding and romantic, these elegant pieces transport you into still landscapes shrouded in swirling fogs of ambiguous passion." - San Francisco Bay Guardian
"Eleni Karaindrou's simple, ethereal melodies are so infectious and profoundly sublime that they easily stand by themselves, unencumbered by visual images. And yet one has no trouble visualizing the numbing loneliness of the desolate, or the tragic ordeals of sorrow that reside in the heart of this music... In truth, the experience of listening to this unforgettable music cannot be conveyed by mere .=words." - The Music Advocate
"Strangely inflected melodies against mysterious drones that seem to exist outside of time. Imagine music aching with nostalgia, as mixed between sharp and blurred, real and imagined, as memory itself." - American Record Guide
"For many years Karaindrou has been developing a fragile, solemn music that goes beyond film scoring; Her compositions have a life of their own. She favours a harmonic music that has an almost folk-like simplicity in its melodic development. But she casts these melodies in muted hues and shades that could have been morphed out of a Mark Rothko painting, and milks every iota of expressive power from a handful of themes." -Audio (USA)
"Music of haunting stillness. Such simplicity of sound can be as riveting as the fury of a Mahler symphony." - Washington City Paper
I would like to think that when it comes to Greek contemporary music,
that composers like Eleni Karaindrou ,Vangelis Katsoulis, or even someone
like Minas Alexiadis are not the exception to the rule. I'm sure that
there is a wealth of talent out there, it's just that you rarely get to
hear any of the truly brilliant recordings. My own program here on Sydney
radio follows on after a Greek program, and all I will say that the music
(on the Greek program) is bloody awful and were it not for composers like
Karaindrou I would dismiss Greek music without a further thought. ECM has
released her fourth album to date, yet another fine accompaniment to a
film by Theo Angelopoulos-Eternity and a Day. Karaindrou's association
with the Greek film maker goes back to 1984, and this is her sixth score
to his films. The film stars possibly my favorite actor of all time, Bruno
Ganz. Entering Karaindrou's world of sound to vision is a roller coaster
of personal memories, emotions, hopes and fears, coupled with a sense of
Greek identity and culture. Not that you have to be Greek to enjoy this.
This is intelligent contemporary Greek music, music based along the lines
of classical ideology mixed in with traditional instruments, with
elements of Greek folk music yet still very much modern. Anyone who
is aware of Theo Angelopolous' films will know of his use of long
panoramic shots taking in the geography of the Greek landscapes. As such
this score is a wonderful accompaniment, giving the listener an acute
sensation of time, depth and distances. There is a longing in this music,
a pensive - emotional undercurrent that appeals immediately. The same
musical themes have been explored on other recordings like Ulysses Gaze,
or even The Suspended Step Of The Stork. On this album accordions and
mandolin play alongside strings and woodwinds. A remarkable combination
of sounds are achieved as a result. It would have been great to hear the
wonderful voice of Ganz on record again. A wonderful recording and one of
many fine new releases for ECM.
from nadabrahma
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