Schola Pietatis Antonio Vivaldi (Vivaldi's Women)

This morning, quite by accident, I found the Schola Pietatis Antonio Vivaldi (SPAV or Vivaldi's Women), a U.K. based, all female choir and orchestra. This morning I was wanting to play some music, however, being at my parent's house for Easter I have to use the DVD and TV as they don't have a separate sound system; turning on the same a performance of the Schola Pietatis Antonio Vivaldi was airing on ABC 1 in Sydney (for non-Australians, the equivalent of the BBC or PBS). Much intrigued I checked the TV guide and then Googling the group's name I found their Internet site.

The documentary on the TV was painfully short, a real teaser - 30 minutes. The music and the setting were rich, a performance of Vivaldi's Gloria, filmed in 2005 on location at the Santa Maria della Pieta in Venice. A great discovery, and if you like Baroque music its well worth a listen and a look!

The next step, of course, is to see if I can get any of their music or see the full documentary. I'll try the BBC, the ABC here, and my favourite record shop, and the SPAV - they of course will know where their music has been published. For information about the SPAV go to their site. There you will find excerpts from a performance, and from the documentary Vivaldi's women. If you are in the U.K. or Europe keep your eyes and ears for any concerts the SPAV may give.

If you want to know more about Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741), Wikipedia has a good non-specialist article.

Image: © SPAV (used without permission), 2009.

Kate Bush's Aerial (2005)

I have been an on again, off again fan of the music of Kate Bush since the mid 1980's. I have always loved her original and often quirky lyrics. Aerial has become a much played favourite, although I do ration myself so as to not loose my taste for it, and also not drive family and friends crazy. It's that old saying: everything in moderation.

Back to Kate and Aerial (and Constant Reader, I am quite deliberately not looking at any reviews of it so I can write honestly of my impressions), I think it does what I think all music should do, that is, Kate's music transports you; it raises positive emotions in you; the lyrics and the music paint pictures in your mind. So please give me license, for here I am operating at the level of my emotions and not acting as a very amateur music critic. In Aerial, Kate Bush, turns the commonplace: housekeeping into music (Mrs. Bartolozzi); Pi (the mathematical ratio) into music, however, I am sure most mathematicians would say emphatically that maths is music; she sings of passion (Joanni and An architect's dream); of love for her son (Bertie); and of nature, and of the passage of time (Sunset and Aerial).

Now go and listen to it! If you don't want to take my word and need a professional review go to allMusic, look up Kate Bush or Aerial, read the review (which I have just read to conclude this post) and listen. Her official website is to be found here: http://www.katebush.com/

Details: Bush, Kate Aerial. [London] : EMI, 2005 (2 CDs, runtime: 80 minutes); released in Australia as EMI 0946 3 43960 2 8