Maya Beiser, delugEON Review

Classical

Maya Beiser, delugEON Review

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Maya Beiser is a cellist from Israel that is forging an artistic path through uncharted territories and charming audiences worldwide with her creative approach to the classical genre. Beiser brings a daring and unconventional sound and interpretation to classics to transform them into a contemporary classical sound that includes various musical styles and defies conventional norms. Beiser spent her early life surrounded by the music and rituals of Jews, Muslims, and Christians, while studying classical cello repertoire and has ascended to the highest ranks of her expansive musical genre. A founding member of the Bang on a Can All-Stars, she’s collaborated with the likes of Brian Eno, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, David Lang, Louis Andriessen, Lucinda Childs and many others. She has performed on the world’s most prestigious stages including the Big Ears Festival, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Brooklyn Academy of Music, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, London’s Southbank Centre, Royal Albert Hall and the Barbican, the Sydney Opera House, and many others. Beiser is now set to release her most personal album to date titled, delugEON. DelugEON contains nine tracks that use sounds of nature to enrich the sounds of classic compositions by Beethoven, Vivaldi, and Messiaen. Recorded during a period of 7 days in Hudson Hall, New York, delugEON utilizes numerous sets of microphones situated in various positions throughout the recording space to capture a broad spectrum of sounds. This concept allowed for various faces of the natural acoustics to suffuse the sound of Beiser’s cello with a reverberant, mystical presence. The entire album was recorded without the use of any artificial or digital sound manipulation.

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Positives:

Beiser’s cello playing is lyrical, passionate and her tone is warm and inviting. Her interpretations are interesting and very intimate.

Bottom Line:

DelugEON brings the listener into an intimate world with Beiser. The layers of her warm cello are permeated by the sounds of melting icebergs, desert dunes, oceanic winds, her breathing and heartbeat and the winds on Mars. The compositions are all well-known and Beiser’s layers of cello parts do justice to the reconstruction of the original pieces. Beiser’s actual heartbeat is used as a drumbeat under Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata: Adagio.” Her breathing is used within the layers of the multi-cello recreation of Oliver Messiaen’s “Water” (From “Fête des belles eaux"). The slow movements from Vivaldi’s four seasons is especially moving and contains some of the best playing by Beiser. Her tone is rich, and her lyrical style really shine in these movements. The added sounds never intrude in the musical flow, but instead, enhance the mood. Beiser is certainly continually pushing the boundaries and this is a welcomed addition to the possibilities that the classic repertoire still has for us to enjoy. Thanks to Beiser we are still discovering the ways the classics can be expanded upon. That’s the short of it!

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