Anna Katharina - Saitensprung

Title: Saitensprung
Artist: Anna Katharina
Genre: Alternative, Folk, World
Release Date: 16th October 2009
Label: F.A.M.E. Recordings



Album Review

This solo album of ANNA KATHARINA (SCHANDMAUL violinist, hurdy-gurdy player and vocalist) gets off to a cracking start with an intense and feisty violin track, 'Captain Islay’, which leaves the hairs on the back of your neck up before it effortlessly and languidly falls to gentler overtures evoking sadness and sorrow before revisiting its opening intensity. It's a really great choice of opening track and one of the very best on the album. 'In den Hallen des Bergkoenigs' (Hall of the Mountain King) should be familiar to everyone but is treated here with a sort of funky edge that certainly gets your head nodding and you humming but I don't know if it really shows the piece, or the musicians, to best effect. It's well executed but not one of my favourite tracks as it seems to be, that in some cases, it's treated as musically 'different' just for the sake of it and that along the way it loses some of it's greatness.

'Nimbu Pani' on the other hand takes you way out east somewhere and has an addictive edge to it that reminds you of belly dancers, snake charmers, bleached stone buildings and Moroccan skies. It's a gentle and lovely track, very evocative, and a real pleasure to listen to. 'Zigeunerweisen' sees cleverer classical violin work, which really keeps your attention, despite being slow. It's very, very beautiful, not something you'll ever find yourself humming, but absolutely a joy to listen to. The last section in contrast to the first is very fast indeed and seems to bear little resemblance to the rest of the track, but overall a lovely piece of work. Track five, 'Loibere Reisen', sees the first vocal of the album and it's plainly sung and well executed, having a simple beauty to it, with no pretensions whatsoever and again the trademark lovely violin, reminding people that we are indeed in the presence of great musicians.

'Hüttenlargo / Nuttentango / Glückskeks' is not the greatest track of the album, but certainly not the worst. It has very forward almost jazz drums to open before the other instruments appear, and whilst I can see it would be fun to play, it didn't really excite me as a track, and I think is more for the musicians than for the listening public. However, as ever, it's well executed, nicely preformed and I daresay technically respectable. 'Flying Cow' is pure country, not my thing at all, but from a purely objective point of view, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it, and if you like that sort of thing then it'll be a pleasure to listen to as it's fast paced, fun and energetic. And then James Bond appears. Well no, not quite, but 'Geschüttelt - Nicht Gerührt' certainly gives that impression from its opening couple of bars. It evolves into a solid enough track finishing as it started with images of Sean Connery flying through your head.

No-one can accuse ANNA KATHARINA of being boring that's for sure and this is a saving grace of this album, it's truly diverse and one gets the impression that a great deal of thought has been put into it's compilation. Now it's time for a nice bit of 'Bach Partita E-Dur', which is really lovely. I alternately love and loathe tracks on this album, but this one really hits the spot for me, as it's really nicely delivered with plenty of emotion and passion. 'Close your eyes' is the penultimate track and starts very beautifully with a choir plain-chanting the title. Its evolution from there-on-in leads it to be my favourite track on the whole album. It has everything that I'm looking for in a track, beauty, passion, fire, great technical ability, audibility and a fabulous tune that sticks in your head. It's really a great track in my opinion.

The last track on an album should, I think leave you baying for more, but alas for me it was the worst track on the whole album being a cover of the beautiful Leonard Cohen song 'Hallelujah'. It's one of the most heart wrenching and uplifting lyrics on the planet, but it all gets lost under a really horrible arrangement which culminates in a jolly sounding rhythm appearing from somewhere and totally destroying the whole meaning of the song. Coupled with the fact that ANNA KATHARINA is a far better instrumentalist than she is a singer, I feel that it was really a mistake, but overall the whole flavour of the album was bold, interesting and something I'm glad I had the chance to listen to. The sound is good and, as I said earlier, great care has been taken in preparing the running list so as to never present the listener with the same style twice. Despite my misgivings about the last track, it's a good album and well worth a look.


Tracklist

01. Captain Islay (3:47)
02. In Der Halle Des Bergkönigs (2:51)
03. Nimbu Pani (4:17)
04. Zigeunerweisen (6:00)
05. Loibere Risen (2:46)
06. Hüttenlargo / Nuttentango / Glückskeks (3:45)
07. Flying Cow (2:54)
08. Geschüttelt - Nicht Gerührt (2:20)
09. Bach Partita E-Dur (3:42)
10. Close your Eyes - Version Anna Katharina (3:42)
11. Hallelujah


Line-up