Mezzo-soprano Marina Viotti emerged, fully formed, with A Tribute To Pauline Viardot (Little Tribeca, 2022), honoring French mezzo soprano/composer Pauline Viardot (1821 - 1910), which she followed with the uniformly fine Mezzo Mozart (Aparté / Little Tribeca, 2024). These were fairly standard classical vocal recitals with more than their share of talent and charm. Melankhôlia: In Darkness Through The Light is mezzo-soprano Marina Viotti’s debut recording for Naïve Classiques, and it is a dramatically different project altogether. This project had its beginnings in 2017 with lutenist Vincent Flückiger and multi-instrumentalist (engineer and producer) Fred Chappuis. The project had its first show the same year at the Lucerne Theatre under the direction of Wouter Van Looy. The premise of the project was the melancholy songs of English composer John Dowland (1563-1626) seasoned with like modern compositions set against an evolving wall of electronic sonics.
Contemporary songs by Neil Young, U2, Metallica, Lana Del Rey, Nine Inch Nails, and Björk are sprinkled among those of Dowland in a soundscape where the archlute and modern electric guitar exist synergistically with a Moog or mellotron, surrounding the voice and collapsing the two disparate eras into a potent and tuneful singularity. Neil Young’s “Old Man” slips seamlessly beneath Dowland’s “Stay Time a While Thy Flying” while U2’s “One” provides a thoughtful introduction to “Dear, If You Change” the latter given an anthemic thrust with electronics. Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matter” translates easily into Dowland’s harmonic language, tempering the 500 years between. Trent Reznor’s “Hurt” filterers through Johnny Cash’s version into a starkly bracing landscape owned by Viotti and her exceptional instrument, giving the song yet another life.
So often projects blending periods and genres fail because of a poor integration, manifesting as a great initial idea that cannot be coaxed into a cogent completion. Not so with Melankhôlia: In Darkness Through The Light, which possesses a dense core or artistry based on those musical elements that are timeless and universal.