La Voce Strumentale

Dmitry Sinkovsky & La Voce Strumentale – Songs and Poems (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:06:25 minutes | 603 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Glossa

The Russian composer Sergey Akhunov (b. 1967) was educated at the Kiev State Conservatory, before he started his career as an oboe player. He subsequently gained experience in various musical styles and genres such as electronic music and rock. In the mid-2000s, he consistently turned to composing orchestral, chamber and vocal music, but also film music. This recording presents vocal music by Akhunov, including “Songs”, which he wrote as a commission for La Voce Strumentale. Dmitry Sinkovsky as the spiritus rector of the recording – he is at the same time singer (countertenor) and conductor – succeeds in an impressive way, among others seconded by soprano Julia Lezhneva in three songs, in combining tonal contemporary music with the sound of an early music ensemble.

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Dmitry Sinkovsky, La Voce Strumentale – Bach in Black (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:01:27 minutes | 614 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © naïve classique

Dmitri Sinkovsky appears in this Bach album wearing three hats: as a violinist, (so far, so normal) but also as a counter-tenor. As he starts to perform as a counter-tenor as well as an instrumentalist, the overall impression at first is that this is nothing more than a charming curiosity or a typically “baroque” extravagance, especially when he moves from violin to vocals in the same piece. But as his talent as a singer unfurls – and it is some talent – he proves himself more than capable of winning over the most demanding audiences. His desire to play the two roles simultaneously speaks to one of the key concepts of the baroque era: the idea that one should treat an instrument like a singer’s voice, and, conversely, that the human voice should be treated like an instrument. Sinkovsky sings without any of these rather precious affectations, in a sharp style, with fiendishly precise vocal attacks, no easy-option glissando or poor taste: in short, an example that many star counter-tenors would do well to follow. As for his skills as a violinist, for some time he has left his audiences in little doubt. Note that for the heart-rending aria “Erbarme dich” from the Passion According to St Matthew, he sings the alto part, and also plays: the two lines, each as important to the whole as the other, intertwine to form an immense ribbon from start to finish: a little nod to modernity, as the whole thing is achieved by means of overdubbing in the studio!

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