Iva Bittova

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Cat No: 3717896

Release Date: 18 March 2013

Label: ECM Records

Packaging Type: Jewel Case

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 602537178964

Genres: Jazz World Music

Description
Czech singer/player/composer Iva BittovÃ¡ has long been one of contemporary music's great originals - and her work has always resisted neat idiomatic definition: as she says herself, "deciding on a name for my style of music is far from over yet". She has contributed to projects in many genres, from jazz to opera, worked with musicians in experimental rock and classical music. This eponymously-titled disc, on which she sings and plays the violin and kalimba (thumb piano) now marks her solo debut for ECM.

BittovÃ¡ has said: "The violin is a mirror reflecting my dreams and imagination. I believe there are fundamentals to my performance, such as the music's vibration and resonance between violin and my voice." That relationship is beautifully explored on this album - recorded at Auditorio Radiotelevisione Svizzera, Lugano, and produced by Manfred Eicher - which expresses the essence of BittovÃ¡'s unique and extraordinary solo work. Her violin-playing is as versatile as her voice can be, by turns, austere, earthy, romantic, a tool for sonic exploration and emotional expression.

The pieces here, modestly-titled 'Fragments I-XII' resist definition. An idiosyncratic 'folk' music, contemporary composition, improvisation, any and all of these may apply from moment to moment - her music is a living, changing thing. Iva BittovÃ¡ was previously showcased in 2007 on the widely-acclaimed ECM album Mater, flanked by the chamber orchestra Solamente Naturali and the Bratislava Conservatory Choir. VladimÃr GodÃ¡r's cantata was in fact inspired by BittovÃ¡'s vocal art, by its energy, discipline, and intuitive and emotional power.

Personnel: Iva BittovÃ¡ (voice, violin, kalimba)
Tracklisting